Masks
by The Blue Rhapsody
Summary: "To any single individual whom it concerns, I will pay five hundred dollars if you can do one thing-go on a date with my son." Poor Mai, a college sophomore with no parents, no money, and no choice but to accept a ridiculous request by a ridiculous mother. But perhaps something more lies underneath the mask of the infuriating, narcissistic man-and consequences will be paid. AU.
1. Chapter 1

_"To any single individual whom it concerns, I will pay five hundred dollars if you can do one thing- go out on a date with my son."_ Poor Mai, a college sophomore with no parents, no money, and no choice but to accept a ridiculous request by a ridiculous mother. But perhaps something more lies underneath the mask of the infuriating, narcissistic man - and consequences will be paid for it. AU.

 **Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Ghost Hunt. Their lawyers are too good.**

* * *

 _"..._ When the Native Americans had met the Europeans, a whole new world was introduced, and thus was the beginning of a long conflict that would last more than a century. Isn't that right, Mai?"

Mai, pink cheeked and caught in the act, gave a start and nodded vigorously. _Why_ did she almost fall asleep?!

"Y-Yes!"

"Of course, you'd be more confident with your answer if you were paying attention." A few chuckles and giggles scattered across the classroom before the professor urged them to quiet down. Mai, if possible, sunk even lower in her seat. College wasn't nearly as fun as it looked in the movies! Of course, she had learned this in freshman year, but that didn't mean she couldn't hope it would be easier this year...

"Influenza, chicken pox, measles, and other diseases infected the Native Americans greatly. It severely impacted them, to the amount where tens of thousands died to a disease like smallpox. When-" The bell rang. The students stood up, bowed to the professor and, when the professor bowed back, the students quickly packed up. Giggles and gossip echoed off the walls and into the hallway as the scholars left. Mai sighed.

 _I have a head ache._

Normally, Mai would have gladly talked with her friends...if she had any in that classroom. The people weren't necessarily _bad_ (from what she had seen. They never did any group work with other tables, so she was stuck with her own). But the people around her...well... one had multiple arrests on their record, one didn't even _bother_ talking to Mai, and the other one only showed up to class on the first day and hadn't appeared since.

Weaving through the crowds, Mai stopped to wave to some of her other friends. Thank goodness it was Friday-Mai had a ton of homework to procrastinate. As she slowly made her way to the bus stop (living on campus was too expensive) she made a list of things to do once she got back. _Isn't there supposed to be a huge party this weekend?_ Mai hummed to herself as she weaved through the thick crowds.

The bus, as usual, was almost empty. Most students lived on campus, and with the large party even more were staying for the weekend. Mai didn't really mind- her headache was starting to worsen. With a lurch the bus pulled forward and, when the bus stopped half an hour later, Mai gratefully got off. By now, her headache worsened considerably, her nose was starting to plug up, and her muscles were already starting to protest any movement. Weren't people supposed to get sick in the winter, _not_ the spring?

Mai complained to herself as she trudged past the same, plain colored houses.

 _Take out the garbage, clean up my room._

Her house was in sight.

 _I should probably vacuum, too. It's the least I can do for them._

She was just in front of the stairs.

 _Maybe I can make some dinner if I can find something in the fridge. Kiku's mom just went shopping, right?_

She trudged up the stairs, yawned, and searched her pocket. She froze, searched her pockets faster than before and, in her frenzied state she dug through her bag. When she found the familiar golden key, Mai sighed with relief. _That would have been my second key lost..._

She set her bag on the stairs once inside and immediately went to scrounge the fridge.

"I wish the college had free food," Mai whined. "Considering how much tuition costs, and then buying those books from them, too..." _Apple...yogurt...ham...aw, there's nothing good!_ Mai pouted. _Maybe there's something in the pantry?_ Fortunately, Mai found some pocky in the pantry, and close the door shut with a small cheer.

"'Pocky is happiness in a square, share it with your friends to make it fair!'" She sung loudly. "'Add some-'" She abruptly stopped. Her bag, unceremoniously thrown aside only minutes before, now had its contents spilled all over the floor. Mai swallowed thickly.

"Must have rolled over on the stairs," she laughed weakly. "Glad I didn't have any projects in there..." Any further thoughts were cut off when Mai heard the garage door open. She quickly shoved the contents back into the bag and set it aside just as Kiku's dad walked into the room.

"Welcome home, Mai! You seem to have beaten me home this time," he joked. "Normally I'm the one who-wait, is that my pocky?"

"Um...how about I make you some tea!" She rushed back to the kitchen. Kiku's father shook his head with a small chuckle, going on to announce that he had got the mail. He dropped a few letters on the entry way table and retired to his office to read the rest. When Mai returned from handing off the tea, she saw a few letters addressed to her and grabbed them.

"Why would I get a letter?" She frowned. "Oh! That's right! My textbooks!" Mai's stomach plummeted. _I don't want to imagine the price..._ She opened the letter. Her eyes widened she saw the price of her books, as if they were glaring at her.

 _My part time job is_ not _going to cover this! Then how..._ She bit her lip. _Oh! I know! borantia!_

Mai hopped up the steps two at a time, closed the bedroom door behind her, and made a beeline for her computer. She started it up and logged onto _borantia._

 _borantia_ was similar to Craigslist...in a way. Originally, it was meant for high school students to get volunteering hours for their college application. Someone would list a job they needed to get done-mow their lawn, clean their house, something similar to those activities-pin it to a board with the job's category (cleaning, caring, dating, etc) and wait for someone to "volunteer" until a certain amount of time passed. After that time ended, the poster would pick a "volunteer", and then pay them after the job had been finished. Originally there wasn't any money involved, and there isn't supposed to be, but many times the original poster would pay the person, anyway. It was a great way to make quick money...guaranteed the original poster wasn't a serial killer or cannibal. But that only happened a few times.

As Mai scrolled through the listed jobs, her hope began to damper. The posters weren't really willing to pay that much-not enough to cover Mai's books, anyways. She bit her lip.

 _What about the dating section? I normally don't go in that section, but it does usually pay a lot..._

She was right. The jobs in the dating section generally did offer much more money than the other sections, but were often much more...well...questionable. Mai blew a strand of hair out of her hair irately. After scrolling through the lists (most of the options would even make a priest blush) Mai almost growled. Was there _anything_ she could do?!

And then she found it.

The price immediately caught her eye. The description, however, gave her even more shock.

 _"To any single individual whom it concerns, I will pay five hundred dollars if you can do one thing- go out on a date with my son."_

* * *

A/N: This has been in works for months, maybe even a year, and I can't really fight the impulse to keep it hidden any longer. But hey! New stories are great! Sorry the first chapter is boring, but I promise things will get more... _interesting,_ you could say. I will admit, this story will move at a slower pace. Cases will ensue, and some will take a long time, but I want to make sure I develop the characters and the story properly. Some stuff will be purposely different, such as last names, but there's a good reason for it-I promise! The plot will start moving around chapter four or so, but there will be some good stuff before that. One more thing-chapters will vary in length a lot, as handful are already written and some are not, so except some jumps in word count (but each one will at _least_ be a thousand words). Reviews are always welcomed, too! I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Chapter 2

Mai's mouse hovered over the button. Sounds that once seemed so insignificant and bothersome roared in her ears; the hum of the fan was suddenly so much louder, Kiku's father's laugh from downstairs echoed between her ears, shouts from the streets now crept through the window and curled around her neck...

She swallowed thickly. She had to think about this! First off, this wasn't completely safe at all. What if is this was some psycho murderer! Or maybe they were human traffickers of some sort, or maybe they wanted to harvest her organs and sell them on the black market and maybe they were-

Mai took a deep breath. She shakily released it. Alright. She was an adult, for heaven's sake. Mai needed to calm down. Besides, it's not like she had to decide right away, right? And, since there was already a growing lists of takers, it wasn't like Mai was going to get picked.

"I mean, there's already...seventeen takers!" Mai nearly whistled. "And of course, like I said, the chance of me getting picked is...seven...three...I don't know, a really small percent!" She threw her hands in the air. "And I still have time! It doesn't expire for another week or so." Feeling slightly more reassured, Mai leaned back in her chair. "And I'm sick, too, so if I _do_ get picked and don't want to go anymore, I can just say I'm sick and...not respond or something."

Hey, just because she was in college didn't mean she figured everything out easily.

With the call of dinner, Mai clicked the "notify" button (just in case she decided to volunteer), pushed the matter in the back of her mind, and rushed off to dinner. Later, Mai was getting ready for bed. The numbers on the alarm clock told it was very late and, combined with her sickness and general lack of sleep, Mai was exhausted. She _really_ needed to stop playing video games for so long...

Her head hit the pillow and Mai was instantly asleep, blissfully unaware of the troubles she would face tomorrow.

* * *

Although the neighborhood was nice, it had some downsides. One of the major ones would be the birds.

Mai growled and pressed the pillow over her ears harder. For _once,_ she'd like to make those noisy birds shut up! She was half tempted to chuck her backpack at them when Kiku's mom entered the doorway.

"Good morning, Mai!" She laughed when Mai groaned. "I know it's so early in the morning, but unfortunately I have to be the bearer of bad news." Mai hesitantly lifted her head from the pillow.

"What do you mean?"

"Spring cleaning has been cancelled, and I _know_ how much you were looking forward to it." Kiku's mother smiled.

"But why? You've been looking forward to it for weeks!" Mai exclaimed, now sitting up. "Why cancel it?"

"Oh, we don't have enough cleaning supplies."

"Then...why not buy some?"

"I suppose we could, but I didn't want you to miss out on the big party! I heard from Kiku that everyone is going, and I didn't want you to feel left out from your peers. It's college! Live a little, and don't worry about me here." Kiku's mother waved Mai's worries away. Yet, despite the fact Kiku's mother was perfectly alright with it, Mai didn't feel right. Kiku's mother also would have just bought more cleaning supplies and get back to work. So...why didn't she?

Seeing the look on Mai's face, Kiku's mother smiled.

"Really, Mai. I want you to enjoy yourself. Now, breakfast is ready whenever you want to eat."

And with that, she was gone.

* * *

Perhaps going to the party wasn't such a good idea. Combined with Mai's headache (which was oh so conveniently better hours before, now worse then ever), the loud pounding music, and alcoho (along with its underage drinkers), Mai really wanted to go home. Oh, not to mention the guy that was hitting on her was a real jerk, too. _Why_ did Mai allow Kiku to convince her to go?

The guy stopped his rambling to take a sip.

"I'm actually studying physics," he said. "Pretty tough subject." He puffed his chest out and took another sip of beer. The pounding music increased.

"R-Right." Mai managed to smile weakly. Though annoyed, she didn't have the heart to interrupt him and leave (besides, since they were using Kiku's car, so she couldn't leave without Kiku, anyways.)

"What's your major, by the way?" He peered at Mai over the rim of his cup. _Here we go again,_ Mai thought sullenly.

"Undecided," she replied. "I'm thinking of doing something child-related, though."

"Well, children _are_ a woman's subject, anyways. Not for men. We're doing the important stuff." The guy nodded confidently. A surge of anger spread throughout Mai like a horde of wasps, buzzing and baring their stingers with seething teeth. Her cheeks flushed and Mai puffed out her chest angrily.

" _Important stuff-"_

"Mai! There you are!" Kiku's slurred voice cut Mai off. _Oh no. She's drunk._ Mai moaned.

"M-Mai! Isn't this party great?" Kiku stumbled over to her. With a giggle she placed her hand on Mai's shoulders and said, "There's some pretty cute guys here. I even gave one a leaf! Oh, Mai, you don't look so good," she slurred with furrowed brows. "Are you alright? You're not dying are you?"

"No, Kiku, I'm-"

"Dying!" Kiku wailed and threw her arms around her friend. Mai stumbled. "Dying! I'm going to loose you forever and-and my parents will be more upset over your death more than miiiiine!" She sobbed hysterically. "No, no, no, no, no, n-"

"It was nice meeting you, but we're going home now." Mai cut her companion off and smiled nervously to the guy. "It, er, was a pleasure talking with you." _More like a pleasure to leave you!_

"Oh, we should exchange phone numbers!" The guy grinned. "You know so we can, ah-" His eyes slid from the bottom of Mai to the top of her in a second with a smirk-" _talk._ "

"N-No, I really have to get home, a-and I don't have a phone," Mai lied. _Dang it, he probably saw right through that! Why am I never a good liar?!_ "I-It was nice chatting with you!"

Mai dragged Kiku outside.

"Noooo, Mai! You should have gotten his phone number! You have a phone!"

"You're drunk, Kiku."

"No! I'm...I'm...s-s-s-sober." She stumbled down the steps. "Look, I only had water!"

"You mean vodka?"

"The guy who gave it to me said it was water!"

"How did you not tell the difference between water and vodka?"

"I dunn, it was pretty strong stuff, and I really liked looking at my reflection in it, and I thought if my reflection _looked_ as good as it did it would _taste_ just as good..." Kiku trailed off into a string of incoherent mumbles. Mai sighed.

But as Mai helped Kiku into the car, a cool air brushed behind the back of her neck, and Mai immediately straightened up. It was a warm spring night- why did she feel cold all of sudden?

"Maaaaiii! Nooo, let's go baaaaack to the partyyyyy! Maaaaaiii!" She ignored Kiku's whines and stepped away from the car. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Her palms felt sweaty. The last time she felt this...

"H-Hello? Is someone there?" Mai bravely asked. "Hello?"

Silence answered her.

Feeling unnerved, Mai turned around with full intent of speeding out of this place. What she wasn't prepared for was to hear that voice- if you could call it that.

 _"Girl!"_ Its voice was raspy and deep and sent shivers down her spine. _"Don't_ -" Mai never heard the rest. With breakneck speed she jumped in the car, locked the doors (and the windows) stepped on the gas pedal, and sped out of the neighborhood, leaving anyone-or anything- behind them in a cloud of dust.

* * *

Thank goodness Kiku's parents left their front light on.

Mai, miraculously, hauled Kiku out of the car and to the front door. After fumbling with her keys (her nerves were still shot from the incident) she unlocked the front door and staggered in.

"Mai? Kiku? Is that you?" Kiku's father stuck his head though the doorway. "What're you doing home so early?"

"Dad! Dad! Daaaad! Did you know I have a birth mark on my shoulder? L-Look, I'll give one to Mai, too, see-" She proceeded to give a butterfly kiss on Mai's shoulders. "You're cured!" She cheered.

"Thank you very much, Kiku." Had Mai not been feeling sick, she would have laughed at the scene before her. "Um, I think this answers your question, Mr.-"

"Cured! Cured!"

"I'll just get her upstairs." Mai gave a strained smile and dragged Kiku up the stairs.

It wasn't easy to get Kiku to bed. She protested any article of clothing given to her, and ran away once Mai offered a towel to wash off any make up. Thankfully, years of babysitting allowed Mai to handle the situation (as best as she could, anyways.)

"I'm happy I cured you, Mai," Kiku admitted sleepily once in bed. She pulled her bed covers up to her chin. "Don't die."

"I'm not going to die, Kiku." Mai smiled. "But I will feel better if you go to sleep now."

"Anything to help! Cure! Cure!" Mai nervously chuckled. With a few more reassurances that, no, she was alright and healthy(ish) Mai left.

 _I think I have a fever..._ She closed her eyes. _My body's sore all over...and I'm thirsty, too. I thought my immune system was supposed to protect me against viruses!_

With resolve to get a glass of water and some medicine before heading to bed, Mai staggered down the stairs as quietly as she could. She was just about to announce her presence when she was cut off.

"Dai, we're not earning enough to pay for both the bills and college and-"

"No, Hisoka, we're fine! We can power through this!" _What're Kiku's parents talking about?_ Mai listened closely.

"Powering through this isn't going to pay for those bills! We'll be bankrupt by the end of this year!" Mai gasped. She covered her mouth quickly and silently prayed that they didn't hear her.

For once, luck was on her side.

"Dai, we thought we could do this, but we can't! There's just not enough money! I don't want our family to end up on the streets!" Hisoka's silhouette hunched over with a sob.

"I-I'll think of something. I mean, there's-"

By now, Mai heard enough. Once she was in her room, she allowed guilt to fully consume her. She felt tears pool in her eyes.

She never imagined the Kikus would be in a predicament like this! They always insisted they had enough money- there was always enough for tuition, enough for uniforms, enough for groceries, enough for Mai...

Her computer screen flickered in the darkness.

 _You have seventeen emails,_ it said.

"S-Seventeen?!" Mai stuttered. "This notification must be wrong..." She clicked it anyway. All emails came from one site, all with the same thing.

 _User Saki_4_U has volunteered._

 _User Kini-Mini-vZu has volunteered._

 _User $$Naruto_Sasuka$$ has volunteered._

 _User..._

 _User..._

"T-There's...thirty four volunteers for this thing! N-No way! No one can be that desperate!" _Yet, here I am, desperate for money, too..._ Mai couldn't help but think. She clicked the link to the page and, for the umpteenth time, read the page over again.

 _Five hundred dollars..._ Mai bit her lip. _I could really use that right now._

But still! They could be axe murderes and pyschopaths!

But Kiku's family really needed the money...

Mai heard Hisoka's stiffled sob from downstairs. She shot one last look of concern towards where Kiku's parents would have sat, then back to the computer screen. Her mouse hovered over the, "Volunteer" button. _Should I..._

She clicked it.

* * *

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, or reviewed! Thank you very much! I'm happy to hear that you guys are interested, and as to whether or not Naru knows about this, well...you'll just have to see. But we all know he won't be too happy, that's for sure. As usual, reviews are very encouraged (and once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed!), and I hope you guys are excited for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

"Mai, dear, do you need anymore medicine?"

"No, I think Kiku needs it more."

"True, true. I just gave her some and she's still complaining of a headache." Mai and Hisoka sighed simultaneously. They both looked over to Kiku, who spread out on her bed with a woeful moan.

"The light is...so harsh..." She hugged the pillow tighter. "Can't we get rid of it?"

"No, Kiku. We'd all die." Her mother smiled.

"I _feel_ like I'm dying. This is _terrible,_ I'm never going to a party ev-not again!" Kiku quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. She curled up tighter while Mai ran to grab the bucket, but upon returning, Kiku felt better.

"Did you ever find out the name of the guy who spiked your drink?" Mai set the bucket near the bed.

"No," Kiku said, "but I wish I could. That way I could strangle him. Seriously, why the hell did he do that!"

"Whatever they were, it's not your fault your drink was spiked. _He_ shouldn't have spiked it in the first place," Hisoka said. "Besides, with finals coming up in a few month or so, I have a feeling those parties won't be as frequent."

Mai and Kiku snorted.

"Mom, I love you, but you don't really know anything about our college." Kiku shook her head.

"They'd party during a final if they could," Mai said. "That's what they did last year."

"Didn't they call the cops for that?"

"Oh, right, they did!"

Hisoka looked at both girls bewilderly.

"That's...I'm going to get some more water." She shook her head with a sigh. "Oh! Don't forget, Mai, you have to work today for a couple hours. Work as much as you can-you're gonna need that money for those textbooks. If you want, we can buy some for you."

 _"Powering through this isn't going to pay for those bills! We'll be bankrupt by the end of this year!"_

"Um...no, thank you, I can cover it," Mai stuttered. She pushed the memory out of her mind.

"Mai, are you feeling alright? You don't look good," Hisoka said.

"Oh, no, it's okay! It's just that fever, it's nothing big, everything is good," Mai lied quickly. The words rushed out of her mouth like a river, but there was no stopping it; the words had tumbled out, and both Hisoka and Kiku accepted it without fighting.

 _It's not like I can tell everyone I was eavesdropping on a conversation I shouldn't have, and now I've volunteered to go date a guy somewhere for five hundred dollars. Yeah, as if they'd be happy with_ that. Even her imagination couldn't see it going well.

"Oh, Mai," Kiku requested, "I have some letters downstairs. Can you be a wonderful best friend and grab them, please?"

"Fine." Mai rolled her eyes, but a smile slipped passed her lips. "I'll go grab that water while I'm at it, too." She left before she could hear any protests. Skipping down the steps two at a time, Mai hummed as she made for the kitchen.

"Oh, Mai, is that you? I have some more letters for you." Dai sat at the kitchen table. He looked unbelievably tired; with his five o'clock shadow, ruffled collar, and dark bags under his eyes, it looked like he hadn't slept last night. And, considering the conversation the night before, he probably didn't.

"Are you alright?" Mai asked, taking a step forward.

"Fine, fine. Everything is fine." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "Here. Take your letters and open them." He tossed the letters across the table. "Some of them are Kiku's. Give them to her." He returned to his work.

"R-Right..." Mai took the letters. "Are you sur-"

"I'm _fine."_ Mai stared at him for a moment longer, concern etched on her face, then turned around and began to find a glass. _I don't want to make him more stressed out by talking to him_ , she thought sadly. _They're already under a lot of stress._

 _No thanks to you,_ a nasty voice said in the back of Mai's head. _They'd probably be better off without you. But don't even_ think _of asking them. Besides,_ the nasty voice smiled, _don't you remember what happened last time you made a certain someone angry?_

Mai pushed the thought out of her mind. She took a moment to breathe, then hurried up the stairs. The last thing she needed was to think of _that._

"I have your stuff, everyone!" She managed to open the door. Kiku, who looked even greener in the face than before, lifted her head from her pillow with a grimace.

"Just put it on the table," she moaned, "I'll read it later." She dropped her face into her pillow again.

"Thank you for getting me some water, Mai." Hisoka smiled as Mai handed her a glass.

"No problem." Mai smiled in return, then plopped onto a chair and began to open her letters. Her heart dropped to her stomach-she had to pay _more_ money! _B-But my professor said he wouldn't order any more books, that we had all the materials we needed!_ She abruptly stood up. _He said he wouldn't do it again, I_ know _he did. I think I have the letter in my room, if I can show it to him-_

"I-I have to get something f-from my r-room," Mai stuttered. She quickly left and booked it towards her room. She swung it open and began her frenzied search.

 _Not under my pillow, nor under my bed. I don't think it'd be in the drawers-right, I, er, tore through them last week for that one book. I don't think I ever found it...Taniyama-focus!_

Her computer screen flickered to life _._

"Huh?" Mai dropped her pillow. Frowning, Mai sat in her seat and logged onto her account. A notification greeted her.

 _Your application has been accepted. You are-_

Mai gasped. "What? Are you serious?" A mixture of happiness and dread surged through her. She was picked! She could now help with all the costs! She was-

 _-due at London, England, on-_

" _What?!"_ Mai shrieked. "L-London! No way, that can't be!" She hurriedly pulled up the job again, this time making sure to read it over again.

"...it doesn't mention it at all." Mai fell back in her chair. "Oh my God, how can I go to _England!_ That's halfway across the globe-I can't pay for that ticket!" Anger quickly replaced Mai's shock. Why _didn't_ the poster mention the location in the description? Everyone else did! It was common courtesy on _borantia_ to mention the location of the job. _How else_ could you get it done?

Another notification popped onto the screen.

With her brows furrowed, Mai clicked it open begrudgingly. What she saw surprised her.

"A message from the original poster?" Mai said aloud.

 _Dear Mai_T,_

 _My name is Luella, the mother of the son. Isn't it wonderful you've been picked? Things are certainly going to be...interesting for you, to say the least. Now, I do know you live in Japan, and this poses a small problem-_

"Small problem?" Mai snorted. "Try a _huge_ problem!"

 _-but rest assurred, we can cover all transportation and boarding fees. Besides, you're doing me a huge favor by going on a date with my son. He never listens to me, that young man, so this will be a good opportunity to show him who's the boss. Maybe he'll learn this time..._

 _..._

 _You'll know the answer to this once you meet him. Have a good trip!_

"Wait, she just expects me to jump on a plane halfway around the world to go on a date with her son! That's not right!" Mai shook her head. "I can't do this, there's no way I can-"

"Mai, dear?" Mai froze when she heard the knock at her door. She could practically hear Hisoka's frown. "Is everything alright? I heard you screaming, is something wrong?"

Before Mai could stop it, images of last night reappeared in her head-images of Kiku's parents arguing, of the looming danger of bankruptcy, of being unable to pay bills...

 _I have to do this for them._ Mai set her jaw. _They've_ _done so much for me-it's about time I do something for them._

"Um, actually, I have a date coming up soon, and I need to prepare for it. It's going to last a while."

"Oh, I don't remember you mentioning a date. Well, where is it taking place?"

 _This is going to be bad._

"...London, England."

* * *

A/N: Gotta admit, this chapter was kinda hard to write. And I mean very hard. Fortunately, things _finally_ get interesting next chapter, so hold on tight! I hope you guys are ready, because this story is gonna be a looong ride. Anyways, reviews are always encouraged, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. See you next week!

(Also, one last thing-While I'm not in dire need of one, I wouldn't mind having a beta reader. It helps to have an extra opinion, ya know? If anyone is interested, please PM me!)


	4. Chapter 4

"S-So let me get this straight," Dai must have said for the thousandth time. "Mai, two days ago, you volunteered to go on a date with someone-"

"Yes-"

"Online, no doubt-"

"Um-"

"And you had no idea who they were-"

"Well, since-"

"And you found out they're in England-"

"Um, yes, but-"

"And they're going to pay for you-"

"It is-"

"And you don't find this concerning or suspicious-"

"Of course I do! It's just-"

"And you're going anyways?"

"Yes!" And before Dai could speak another word, Mai plowed on. "And I know you don't agree with my decision, either, but-"

"Mai, dear, it's just...well..." Hisoka and Dai exchanged glances before Hisoka continued, "We're concerned for you. Don't you think you should think this over a bit? Going to England could be so dangerous!"

"But I- _we_ -need the money. Five hundred dollars could cover the electricity bills for over a month, it could cover my textbooks, it could pay for the groceries...there's a lot we could use with it. And besides," Mai said, some anger starting to bubble within her, "I'm an adult now and I can make my own decisions."

"I say Mai goes for it," Kiku proclaimed boldly.

"Kiku," Hisoka warned. She returned her attention to Mai. "Yes, Mai, you're an adult, but...I have a bad feeling about this."

"I do, too," Dai added.

"I don't." Mai clenched her hands. "I don't know why, but my intuition is telling me to do it, and I trust it." Silence crept between them. The parents both exchanged glances, communicating silently, before they both looked at Mai again. Kiku stood up from her chair and sat next to Mai. She crossed her arms and stared her parents in the eye, silently supporting Mai at the same time.

 _Thank you, Kiku,_ Mai thought.

Finally, Dai spoke.

"While it's true you're not our daughter, and even though we think of you as one, we understand that you have to make your own decisions." He released a shaky breath. "We've both come to understand that. But, Mai, please, we urge you to think this over."

"You don't have to leave for another two days, there's still plenty of time," Hisoka pleaded.

"Mom, for the last time, Mai can make her own decisions!" Kiku huffed. "Mai won't learn anything if you both keep babying her. And yeah, England's far away, but the farther away from home you are, the more experience you get and the better you'll remember it. But you know what? Fine." She shrugged. "Keep her in Japan. Let her remain ignorant and naive-"

 _Hey, I'm not ignorant_ or _naive!_

"-and snatch her away from the opportunities the world has to offer. Go ahead. But I swear, if you don't let her go, I'll buy Mai a ticket to England with my own money. I'll pilot the plane myself. But these people are willing to pay the ticket and a lot more money for Mai just to go on a date with some guy, and I say she goes for it." Kiku finished stoutly.

Dai took his wife's hand in his own. When they looked at the girls, Mai could see they made up their mind.

"Mai, you can-"

* * *

"-call me, right?" Kiku handed Mai her suitcase. "Because there's definitely going to be a lot of cute guys in England, and I want their digits."

"Kiku!" Mai laughed. "I'm not even going to stay that long!"

"Long enough to get some numbers for me, though. And for mom!"

"She already has some guns to look at." Dai jokingly flexed. "Why would she want other guys' numbers? Isn't that right?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Hisoka teased. Mai laughed again. She was going to miss them a lot. The last two days were filled with frenzied packing, mounting nerves, and constant doubt. Was this really the right choice? But, as Mai had already reminded herself, she had already made the decision (not to mention it would look really bad for Mai if she backed off, considering the argument just two days prior) and had to go through with it.

"Well, Mai, you should really get going or you'll be late," Hisoka said with a quick glance at her watch. "You don't want to miss your flight."

"You're right. So, I guess...this is goodbye for now." Although she promised she wouldn't, Mai found her eyes watering up and her throat close up. She crumpled the end of her shirt with shaking hands. Without words, Kiku and her parents hugged Mai. She gratefully hugged them back. When an announcement was made, the group broke apart (though not without some sniffles).

"Good luck, Mai." Kiku smiled. "Tell me all the details, alright?"

"You need to ask?" Mai smoothened out her shirt. A few more goodbyes were exchanged, and before Mai knew it, she was taking off from Japan, halfway around the world to England. All to date a guy.

* * *

The ride was torturous. Over twelve hours of staying in one seat! How could anyone do that?

Mai cheered quite loudly when the plane began to descend, much to the chagrin of her fellow cranky passengers. Mai's face had turned beet red, and she quickly retracted her hands from the air. Of course, she had a new issue to deal with-where was she supposed to go now? Supposedly, there was supposed to be someone waiting for her, as mentioned in the follow-up, but Mai wasn't told who it was.

 _Oh god,_ Mai thought suddenly. _What if those people never show up? What if this is some dirty trick? What if I get killed, or kidnapped when I see them?!_ She clutched her heart. _Does it cost money to ask to turn the plane around?!_

Too little, too late. The plane had landed. Mai ignored her pounding heart and grabbed her carry on. _Hey, I'll be okay! I'm fine!_ She tried to reassure herself. _Just pretend you're, uh, that you just got off a class field trip and are now going home. Yeah. That's what I'm doing! Just...a class field trip halfway across the world._

Mai snorted in disbelief and shook her head. Yeah right. Mai told herself it wouldn't be so easy as she sat down on the bench with her bag. Her anxiety about her predicament grew as time passed. To pass time, Mai imagined what the person would look like. Maybe they have a big nose, or green eyes. Maybe they have brown hair? She certainly didn't expect pink hair.

"You must be Takeda Mai!" A pink haired woman appeared out of nowhere. Her Japanese was fluent, as if she was a native speaker. A tall, stern-looking man accompanied her. "Sorry we're late, traffic was horrible." The woman's demeanor was much more welcoming than the man beside her, who only gave Mai a quick nod of his head.

"That's alright, uh..."

"Mori Madoka but you can call me Madoka, and this tall iceberg is Lin." Madoka linked her arm around Lin's. She ignored his annoyed look and turned back to Mai. "Wow, you barely brought any bags!"

"I didn't expect to stay long, to be honest," Mai admitted. Madoka smiled knowingly in response, sharing a quick look with Lin before stepping forward to help Mai. "Oh, no, you don't have to carry it!" Mai insisted. "It's not that much, I can carry it myself, really, it's okay-"

"It's no problem, you should see the amount of bags Luella carries when she goes on trips. She brings so much, it could fill up its own plane."

"Luella...the woman who made the post?"

"She and I came up with it together," Madoka admitted, her face practically glowing with pride. "Now let's go, otherwise we'll be stuck in traffic again." Mai nodded and went to grab her bags...only to find they weren't there. The tall man-Lin-had already taken them and was leaving with Madoka. Mai hurriedly caught up.

"So, uh, what's Luella's last name? She didn't specify that on the post."

"'Shibuya.'" Madoka hummed. "You should probably know about the Shibuyas, right?" She didn't wait for a reply before she plowed on. "Well, there's Luella Shibuya, who helped make the post. She's a bit of a famous fashion designer, holds charity balls and auctions a lot-stuff like that." Mai could have sworn that Lin muttered something bad under his breath. Whatever it was, it was bad enough for Madoka to shoot a scowl at Lin, before returning her attention to Mai. "Anyways, Martin is Luella's husband. He's a professor at a university, and he's very friendly. Unfortunately, he always voices his disapproval when Luella and I are together, for some reason." Madoka huffed. "Their son, Kazuya, however, is a rude little boy who needs to learn some manners."

Mai blinked rapidly.

"Wait, aren't I supposed to go on a date with him? Is he really rude? And just how old is he-"

"He's nineteen years old, but he's waaay too mature for his age." Lin popped the trunk and put Mai's suitcase in. Madoka opened the backseat door for Mai and got in after Mai went first.

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Mai hesitantly asked. Her nerves were not exactly reassured with the new info she was given. Madoka tapped her chin in thought.

"Well, there will be others there, a monk and a priestess. Their names are Takigawa Hoshou and Matsuzaki Ayako."

"Are they Japanese?"

"Yes, they are. You'll notice them right away when we get there." Madoka smiled knowingly again. Mai almost shrunk back into her seat. She didn't feel very prepared. For the rest of the time, Madoka and Mai conversed about colleges, clothes-anything they could think of. Mai was so absorbed in conversation she didn't even realize that they had arrived.

"Here's where you'll be staying, Mai!" Said girl looked out the window and gaped. _Am I living in some kind of mansion?!_ Even the thought of it was shocking to Mai.

"I'm staying here?" Mai repeated. "You're sure there hasn't been a mistake?"

"I'm sure. This is where Kazuya lives, anyway, and where you're staying-"

"What?" Mai stopped Madoka in her tracks. "I'm staying in his house?!"

"Well, yes, where else are you going to stay? Don't you want to stay here?"

"Uh, yes, but-"

"Then there's no issue!" Madoka smiled. She stepped out of Mai's way and continued on. Mai followed. "Now, everyone should be home right now, they're all excited to meet you. Well, Kazuya won't, but that doesn't really matter."

 _It does to me!_

Stepping into the house was like stepping into a whole new world. Large, fancy windows allowed occupants to be bathed in sunlight, and the open hallways made everything seem bigger. Madoka giggled when she caught Mai gaping at the scenery (again). While they approached a room at the end of the hallway, Mai picked up the sounds of yelling.

 _Is someone having an argument?_

"...look, you idiot priestess, it's not an earth bound spirit!" They shouted in English.

"Its met all of the qualifications! Look, Martin, don't you agree with me?"

"Well, Miss Matsuzaki, that's-"

"Look who I brought!" Madoka burst into the room, dragging both Lin and Mai with her.

To be honest, Mai was expecting something much different than the scene before her. A redheaded woman (who Mai guessed was Matsuzaki Ayako) was pulling on the hair of a blonde, tall guy (who must've been Takigawa Hoshou) while a gray haired man with gentle, gray eyes sat in front of a computer. They all had a deer-in-a-headlight sort of look.

Matsuzaki promptly released her hand and turned to them, "Madoka, you're back earlier than we expected!" She switched to Japanese.

"We were just discussing opinions on our latest case," the gray haired man smiled knowingly. "We have some, ah, disagreements. You must be Takeda Mai right? I'm Shibuya Martin, it's a pleasure to finally see you." He bowed to Mai.

"It's nice to meet you, too." Mai smiled as she finished her bow. "You're Matsuzaki Ayako and Takigawa Hoshou, right?"

"You can call me Bou-san, everyone does," he grinned. "Hey, isn't Luella supposed to be here?"

"She was supposed to come down five minutes ago, so I would expect another five minutes or so," Martin said. Everyone but Mai and Madoka sighed.

"So...Madoka, is there anything else I should know?" Mai inquired.

"Oh, I forgot to mention this before!" Madoka perked. "Kazuya won't-"

"-it's suffice to say that the data results are disproving your hypothesis." A cold, cut voice interrupted Madoka. Everyone else, save for Mai, stiffened immediately. Mai only knew one thing; this wasn't going to be good.

The doors began to open.

"If you would stop-" The doors immediately stopped. Two people-a young adult and and a middle aged woman-stood in the doorway, shock on both of their faces (it was much more visible on the woman. On the young adult-not so much for him).

"Luella! Noll!" Madoka greeted them cheerily. "This is Mai…"

A lightbulb went off in Luella's head. Her face brightened immediately and a grin broke out upon her face.

"Oh, so this is Miss Mai Takeda!" Luella said. "It's nice to meet you at last."

"Mother," her son cut in smoothly, "What's-"

"This is Mai Takeda," Luella said. "She's from Japan, and she's here to go on a date with you."

* * *

A/N: You know what? Cliffhangers are great. Not so much for the reader, but for the author? It's pretty fun...so please don't kill me. Moving on, thank you for the kind words, reviewers! They're very much appreciated.

(Also, to everyone wondering why Mai's last name is Takeda, I _promise_ there's an explanation for it. Look, I'll even pinkie promise. See? The explanation won't come for a while, considering I've got 40+ chapters planned and it's not even halfway done, so I hope you guys can be patient-this is gonna be a long ride.)


	5. Chapter 5

"When you showed me that you had trouble interacting with people, I'd figure I'd bring in someone for you to practice on." Luella motioned to Mai. "I wouldn't have had to take such drastic measures if you hadn't listened to me before."

"Mother," Kazuya narrowed his eyes, "the measure you have taken is expensive, drastic, ridiculous, and ineffective," he stated bluntly. Mai blinked rapidly. He was being so rude to his mother! Mai rubbed her arms and glanced around. Was it colder than before...? Kazuya's eyes met someone else's (Mai couldn't see) and the temperature returned to normal.

 _Okay. That was weird._

Ayako stiffened a laugh-her first mistake. Kazuya turned his calculating eyes onto her.

"Do you have something to contribute, Miss Matsuzaki?"

"Well, actually-"

"My mistake," Kazuya said cooly. "I meant if you had anything intelligent to contribute, but I figure I will have to wait a while before that happens."

 _"Their son, Kazuya, however, is a rude little boy who needs to learn some manners."_ Madoka's words popped into Mai's mind. _She was right,_ Mai thought ruefully. _This guy really is rude!_

Ayako's face flushed the same shade as her hair. Bou-san had to stifle his laughs, too, but sharply cut it off when the priestess whacked his shoulder. Mai shifted uncomfortably. _Alright, so it'll be tough to go out on a date with this guy, but I only need to go once, and then I'll get the money and head back home. I've faced harder things than this-what's the worse that could happen?_

"You're Kazuya Shibuya, right?" Mai spoke boldly. He shifted his eyes onto her.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Miss Takeda, but there is no need for you to be here. We're in the middle of an investigation and cannot afford to have any distractions." His tone indicated he was anything _but_ sorry.

"This isn't your house, Noll." Luella crossed her arms. "I'm the one who gets to decide who or what stays in here, and I say that she can stay."

"She's right, you know. Luella can decide whoever stays in her house." Bou-san quelled under Naru's glare, earning a smirk from Ayako and a scowl from Bou-san.

"Kazuya," Martin said. "We should have this discussion another time." His tone made it clear the discussion was over, but Kazuya looked like he wasn't going to drop anything. Seeing this, Madoka jumped in.

"You know what would be a good idea?" Madoka said. "If we showed Mai around the house! Since she'll be staying with us for a while, it would be best for her to know her way around, right? C'mon, Mai, we can drop off your bags in your room. Lin, could you-no, I can take that bag, you take the bigger one. Luella, grab-"

"It's okay!" Mai interrupted. "I can carry my own bags up, really, it's fine." Kazuya glanced at the bags, then started to leave.

"Oh, don't even think about it, young man!" Madoka waved her index finger disapprovingly. "You're going with us on the house tour."

"Why?" Kazuya frowned. "I live here already, I don't need a tour."

"But Mai could use some more company," Madoka rebutted with a glare, as if to say _Control yourself!_

"You're plenty enough company, Madoka."

"The more the merrier!"

 _I don't really think so!_

"The results won't come back for a while, Kazuya," Martin said. "The only thing we can do now is wait, so it would be good for you to walk around and clear your head, even if you claim you don't need to." It's not like Kazuya had a choice, anyway, for as soon as Madoka linked her arm around his and dragged Kazuya away, there was no escaping. Everyone else fought back giggles as Lin and Mai followed Madoka's wake.

They walked up the steps and turned into a short hallway. Mai's room was definitely bigger than her one at home; before, where there was barely room for a bed and a desk, now Mai had her own bathroom and queen sized bed. While her new room wasn't gigantic, it was by no means small, either.

"Does it suit you?" Madoka asked. Mai nodded, speechless. It had been so long since she had a room this size!

"It's perfect." Mai smiled.

"Great! Now, let's start the tour of the house," Madoka said. Kazuya shot her another murderous glare; evidently, not only was he angry about being dragged away, he now had to help babysit a little _girl?_

"Is there any place you would like to start, Mai?" Mai, who was frowning at Kazuya (did he not have the decency to even _talk_ to her?) gave a start.

"What? Oh, um, uh, do you have a garden?" She asked. Madoka grinned.

"I hope you're not allergic to any plants," Madoka replied. They travelled to the garden, where a beautiful arrangement of many kinds of flowers greeted them. Tudor roses, chrysanthemums, daffodils, and flowers of every color winked and beckoned them. Water droplets decorated them elegantly, and when the breeze blew a heavenly scent embraced Mai. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly. The garden seem to breathe with her.

"It's so pretty!" Mai opened her eyes. "Who does all the gardening?"

"Luella and other gardeners that're hired," Madoka answered. "Of course, Luella always wants Kazuya to join her-"Kazuya ignored Madoka-"but the garden is still beautiful. What else would you like to see, Mai?"

"What does your kitchen look like?"

For the rest of the time the same pattern repeated. Madoka would show Mai a room, ask Mai if she'd like to see another place, Mai would name the room, and then they would go there. With every room, Mai felt Kazuya's annoyance grow; he obviously thought that he could have been doing better things. However, Mai had knew Madoka would track Kazuya down and make him pay, should he leave. Kazuya seem to know it too.

"Well, I think that's all the rooms," Madoka said when they finished. She had a grin on her face that, for some reason, made Mai nervous. She hadn't known the woman for very long, but Mai knew one thing; if Madoka smiled, something was up. "Do you need anything else, Mai?" Madoka inquired.

"No," Mai said slowly.

"Great! Well, Lin and I have to get going now, lot's of important stuff to do." Madoka grabbed Lin's arm. "We'll just leave you two alone now. Have fun!" Madoka slammed the door behind them.

Silence.

 _Come back!_ Mai wanted to scream, but what good would it do?

"Um…" Mai started to nervously laugh. "Thank you for going on the tour with me." When Mai received no reply, she spun around and found Kazuya at the door.

Her glanced at her once, then shut the door behind him.

Right in Mai's face.

…

"You _ass!"_

* * *

A/N: And so it begins. There's nothing like the start of a beautiful relationship by slamming the door in your face, right? Right. Thank you to all old and new reviewers, and I hope you'll be ready for some bonding time with a certain character next chapter. See you soon!


	6. Chapter 6

"Mai, get up now, if we don't get out of here by ten-thirty we're going to hit rush hour."

"Mmm...five more minutes, please..." Mai rolled over and covered her ears with her pillow. She heard an impatient sigh.

"Mai, if you don't get up now, I'll pull off your covers." Mai responded by tightening her grip on her sheets. She heard another impatient sigh, before Mai's body was suddenly attacked by the merciless cold. She shrieked and immediately curled up, desperate to keep the warmth she lost.

"Ayako!"

"Are you up now?" Ayako said smugly. "Or do I have to drag you off the bed, too?" Muttering a few curse words under her breath, Mai groaned and pushed herself up, glaring at Ayako before finally sitting up to her full height.

"Where are we even going?"

"Westfield, London," Ayako replied. "It's about half an hour away at least, so we'll have to get moving."

"Why're you even up so early?" Mai grumbled. She pushed the bangs out of her eyes.

"Martin called me this morning." Ayako suddenly frowned. " _Three times._ He goes on about how we need to make sure we take care of ourselves, but then he calls me at an ungodly time in the morning to help him with an experiment…"

"Ungodly time?" Mai raised a brow. "Like how you woke me up now?"

"It's only nine o'clock, Mai." Ayako scoffed and dropped the sheets. She made way to the door. "It's not that early."

 _And yet,_ Mai almost growled, _if I was waking_ you _up at this time, I know you'd kick my butt for it._

* * *

An hour later, Mai was eating breakfast downstairs in the kitchen, reading a book but not comprehending the words. When she read the same sentence for the third time, Mai yawned, leaned back in her chair, and stretched. Not even Lucky Charms could fully wake her up.

 _I don't know how,_ Mai thought suddenly, irritation boiling in her again, _but somehow_ Ayako _turns out to not be completely ready, and an hour later she's still not done with her hair._ Mai wanted to bang her head against the table. Instead, she leaned forward and rested her forehead in the palm of her hand. She closed her eyes.

She blindly brought a spoonful of cereal to her mouth-only to fail and let it spill over her. Mai abruptly sat up and frantically reached for the napkins. Of course, with Mai's luck, the one person she didn't want to see this morning ended up walking in the kitchen.

Kazuya stopped for a moment a few feet from Mai. It _did_ look a little strange; milk and cereal dribbled down her chin onto her outfit, and adding that Mai was frozen in her attempt to get a napkin with a sort of a deer-in-headlights look, it was definitely a strange scene. Mai froze from her stupor and quickly cleaned herself up.

He was gone before Mai even looked up.

 _Great job. Good going, Mai._ She fell back in her chair with a groan. Her hand slapped her forehead and sagged. _Let's make him think you're weird now, too. Not to mention he hates you._ Mai frowned. _For no reason!...Well, I'd be angry if I was in his situation, yeah, but I wouldn't take it out on the person. They didn't set it all up._ Mai sighed again and let her head fall over the edge of the chair. Her hand fell limply at her side. _I just want to get this date over with._

"There you are, Mai!" Ayako's sharp voice brought Mai out of her daze. "Look, it's already after ten o'clock, we need to get going." Biting back her retort ( _who made us late in the first place?!)_ Mai grabbed her bag and left with Ayako.

The car ride was uneventful. Ayako and Mai listened to the radio, conversing a bit. Mai leaned her head against the window, letting her mind drift towards dinner from last night.

 _"Aren't you worried about your grades, Mai?" Luella asked. "Your professors must surely be angry that you've gone halfway across the world."_ _Mai finished chewing her food before replying,_

 _"I talked with all of them before I left, actually. As long as I turn in some stuff and complete some more things online, I'll be good. I'll pass."_

 _"Really?" Martin blinked. "I didn't know that. Your professors seem to trust you a lot, Mai. You must be quite an excellent student."_

 _"Actually," Mai laughed nervously, "I'm going to have to disagree with you on that..."_

 _"Noll is a wonderful student. Terrible socializer." Luella set her fork down. She scowled. "Like right now. He's off doing some science related thing."_

 _"Science relateed...something related to your experiment?" Mai frowned. "The one you won't tell me about?"_

 _Luella grinned knowingly._

 _"Eat your pork before it goes cold, Mai."_

That had been the end of the conversation, for Martin had to leave for a phone call. Even now, Mai was still irked.

"They can at least tell me what they're working on." She huffed. "What's the worse that could happen, any-woah!" Mai flew forward by the car's sudden stop. She gasped for breath as the seatbelt dug into her stomach. The car leaned forward, then righted itself. Its occupants slammed into the back of their seats.

"Mai, are you okay?" Ayako reached a hand over as Mai squirmed in her seat. Mai winced.

"Ow, yeah, I'm okay, but what happened?" She coughed.

"This _idiot_ ," Ayako growled, "just stopped in front of us out of nowhere. We were going at least forty-eight kilometers and that-that _stupid_ man just-"

Mai didn't hear the rest of her sentence. The hair of the back of her neck stood abruptly. Adrenaline pumped through Mai's veins. She immediately sat up quicker and immediately checked the window behind her. _This is just like what happened with Kiku!_ _Am I going to hear that voice again?_ Mai bit her lip. Her mind immediately turned to the chilling voice.

"Girl!" _Its voice was raspy and deep and sent shivers down her spine._ "Don't-" _Mai never heard the rest. With breakneck speed she jumped in the car, locked the doors (and the windows) stepped on the gas pedal, and sped out of the neighborhood, leaving anyone-or anything- behind them in a cloud of dust._

"-and, Mai, are you okay?" Mai gave a start and hurriedly assured Ayako.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm great! I was just worried that, um," _C'mon! Think of something, quick! "_ that the car behind us might not have stopped," she lied wildly, "and I didn't want it to, um, hit us." Ayako didn't seem to have accepted the excuse.

"You're sure?" She raised a brow.

"Yes." Mai nodded firmly. The light turned green and Ayako's attention was forced back to the road. Mai didn't want to give her another chance to interrogate, so she asked, "So are there any shops you'd like to go to first?"

"There's a lot to go to. Westfield _is_ the biggest mall around here."

"How long will this take?'

"Oh, about three hours or so." _Three Ayako hours or three actual hours?_ Mai grumbled. _There's a huge difference._ "While we're there, there's a nail salon we should check out. If you can find some nails to match your outfit, then you'd look even better." They parked and went into the mall quickly (it had started to rain).

"Okay, so first off, let's check out that store." Ayako pointed to a darkly lit store and dragged Mai away before she could even say a word. "So, what're you exactly looking for?"

"Hmm? What did you say? Sorry, I spaced out." Ayako sighed and shot a small glare at Mai.

"What kind of dress do you want?"

"I don't know," Mai said. "It doesn't really matter to me." Mai frowned as they stepped into the dark store. _I can barely see anything._

"I think dark blue would look good on you," Ayako said. "And shorter, too, but not too short. Maybe a little above knee length..." Ayako continued to ramble on about dresses. Mai mostly ignored her. She wandered around the store, squinting to see anything in the poor lighting.

 _Maybe it's so dark so we can't see the prices?_ Mai toyed with the idea. She giggled a bit. _I wouldn't say it's below companies to do that._ Mai continued to stroll around the store, occasionally checking outfits that caught her eye, but mostly enjoying the quiet music.

Until the cart fell over.

Mai yelped and scrambled out of the way as the cart fell down with an almighty "crash!". Mai gasped, and her face heated as the manager stomped over to Mai. They took a look at the cart, to the clothes, then settled dangerously on Mai. They narrowed their eyes.

"Did you do this?"

"Uh..."

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Before Mai could even think it, she blurted out, "I can finally see the prices now."

* * *

"Ayako, for the last time, I'm _sorry."_ Mai pleaded as they passed another store. Fifteen minutes had gone by and Ayako was still angry.

"And I suppose the cart fell over by itself and got us kicked out?"

"I don't know, but it wasn't me! Look, Ayako, how about you pick the next store, and then I'll try on as many dresses as you want me to without complaining."

"You know that's impossible for you, Mai," the older woman remarked dryly. "But since you're offering, we're going to _Macy's."_ The two stepped onto the elevator. Mai glanced at her watch and did a double take. _It's not seven-thirty PM! It's-ohh,_ Mai visibly sighed. _Time zones. Is that why I didn't sleep a lot last night?_ Her gaze drifted to Ayako. _If we're going by Ayako hours, then by the time we buy a dress, I'll be ready to go to bed._ Mai almost blanched. _Ayako's already angry with me. I can't be falling asleep on her!_ They reached the top of the escalator. Ayako was already a few steps ahead of Mai, the sound of her high heels clicking in the relative empty mall.

 _Hey, if I can stay awake helping Kiku study for a test, I can do this!_ Mai picked up her pace to catch up with Ayako.

"So, Ayako, how many times have you gone here?"

"Yes," Ayako answered distractedly. Her emails on her phone distracted her enough to not take in her surroundings. Unfortunately, Mai didn't, either (because she's Mai), and they almost ended up walking into a wall. Mai realized this just in time and quickly steered both of them away. _Crisis averted,_ she sighed. _For now._

"That idiot put in it the wrong place!" Ayako exploded suddenly.

"Bou-san?"

"Who _else,_ Mai?"

"Okay, okay." Mai held her hands up defensively. "What did he do wrong?"

"What _doesn't_ he do wrong?" Ayako sent another email before turning to Mai. "You said no complaining, and I'm intending to hold you to it. C'mon, let's start over here..." Mai was dragged over to the dress section, unaware they entered the store already. Ayako threw dress after dress at Mai; red dresses, blue dresses, long dresses, short dresses...Mai practically swam in them. Trying them on was no walk in the park either. Who knew a dress could have so many zippers?

"Alright, Mai, come on out!" Mai stumbled out of the dressing room. She furrowed her brows, rubbed the back of her heels ( _Seriously?_ _Who puts a ledge in a dressing room!)_ and flattened her dress before turning to Ayako. Ayako immediately pursed her lips.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "It definitely looks better than the other one. How _much,_ however, is a different story..." She paused. "Mai, try on that green dress."

* * *

They left the store an hour later. They had found a nice dress for Mai, but then _Ayako_ wanted to try on one of the dresses, which led to even more time wasted. Oh, and during it a bunch of coat hangers narrowly missed Mai and fell on Ayako. The manager on duty apologized profusely as the rest the employees cleaned the mess up. Ayako wanted a discount, but it was against the store rules to do so.

Ayako wasn't very happy about that.

They ended up leaving (after paying full price for the dress. Or, in Ayako's case, multiple dresses) and doing some window shopping. It was...nice, actually, to talk with Ayako. Sure, she could be a little bossy and it took some time to get used to her, but Mai saw a good person in Ayako. Ayako even reminded Mai of her mother. Mai's mother was definitely more patient, though; Mai kept nodding off while they walked and almost walked into tables and columns because of it. Ayako had to save Mai more than a few times, and it was definitely starting to annoy (or concern) Ayako.

Mai glance at her watch and let out a woeful moan. _Ten PM. Why am I feeling tired? Oh..._ she closed her eyes. _I barely got any sleep last night, so of course I'm tired._

"Mai, are you even paying attention?" Mai gave a start.

"What? Huh? Oh, yeah! I'm paying attention!"

"Then what was I just saying, Mai?"

"...um..."

"That's exactly what I thought," Ayako said, obviously unimpressed. "We're going to find some shoes to go with your outfit and, depending on the shoes, we might get a pedicure."

 _Oh boy._

"What place were you thinking of?" Mai asked when they reached the top of the escalator. Ayako replied with the location, and off the two went. They walked in silence for a while before it was broken by Ayako.

"So," she started, "what do you think of Kazuya so far?" She had a knowing smirk on her face.

"He's unbelievably rude." It slipped past Mai's mouth before she could stop it. She hastily made to apologize, but faltered when Ayako laughed.

"You're not the only person to say that, and you're definitely not wrong about it. So, anything else you'd like to say? Anything about his looks-Hey, don't give met that glare, Mai. Alright, then what else have you noticed about him?"

"He seems smart," Mai said slowly, "but I feel like I won't get along with him."

"You won't."

"Jeez, Ayako, thanks for the support."

"What? I'm stating the obvious." Ayako shrugged. "No one gets along with him that much. Don't go feeling bad, Mai, I know he doesn't really care about other people that much. _Or_ when to appreciate when someone looks good." Her cheeks flushed and she huffed. Feeling like she was starting to dive into dangerous waters, Mai asked if Ayako wanted any shoes at the store.

"Wait, do we do the pedicure before the shoes or afterwards?" Mai added.

"After. It'll be easy to coordinate all the colors." Ayako put back her phone as they entered the store. A man immediately came up to them with a dazzling smile, welcoming both of them with over dramatic flair. Mai was a little set back, but Ayako seemed to enjoy the attention.

"So, what is the occassion?" The man inquired. He twirled his curly mustache. "A party? A date?"

"It's her first date with someone," Ayako said before Mai even opened her mouth. "We need something to go with this-no, Mai, the other bag-yes, this one." Ayako held the lavender dress.

"Oh, this will be easy! Follow me." He sharply turned and made his was down the rows of shoes. Mai followed along. The prices intimidated her-how could anyone afford five hundred dollar shoes?

"The dress itself is very light, so we will need something to match it." The man pulled out some shoe boxes. Mai stifled a yawn as he continued. Each blink became longer and longer, and the urge to curl up on the carpet and sleep was so strong...

"Miss? Miss?" Mai's eyes snapped open. The man held a pair of shoes in his hands, his face surprised. Ayako looked a little annoyed.

 _She's been on a short fuse all day._ Why _did I have to be tired today?_

Mai coughed, "I'm sorry, I blanked out. Um, what did you say again?"

"I need to measure your foot size." He gestured to the instrument on the ground. "Will that be alright?"

"Yes, that's fine." Mai slipped off a shoe. Toes curling to the cold, Mai put her foot on the measurer and sighed. _So tired..._ She pressed her skin against the cold metal to keep herself awake. It didn't help very much.

"Oh, that's not good," the man murmured. "Um..."

"What happened?" Ayako frowned.

"The, ah, measurer seems to be broken." He stood up. "Please wait, I will be right back." Ayako huffed as he hurried off.

"I'm almost convinced you're bad luck, Mai."

Eyes snapping open, Mai managed a distracted "what?"

"First off, that cart fell over in the first store-although that just may have been you-then you and I both bruise our heels on the ledge in the dressing room, even though it wasn't that high. Not to mention that row of hangers missed _you_ and fell on _me."_ Ayako glared at Mai. "Oh, and now this is broken." Ayako frowned. "Remind me to-"

 _Shuffle_

 _Shuffle_

There was something in the back of Mai's tired mind that went off, but her groggy self couldn't understand it.

 _Shuffle_

 _Shuffle_

"Mai," Ayako said slowly. Absentmindedly, Mai rubbed her arms. Was it colder in here than before?

 _Shuffle_

 _Shuffle_

 _..._

 _Silence_

"If this is some-"

 _Crash!_

Ayako and Mai shrieked as a tower of shoe boxes came crashing down on them. Mai fell to the floor as another one hit her face, while Ayako shouted a myriad of curse words. The man rushed over there and cried "Oh my, what happened here!"

"Is this a _joke!_ " Ayako threw the box off her face with a fierce growl. She stood to her full height (the heels added an inch or two), easily dwarfing the the man. "Do you think it's _funny_ to do this to your customers? To potentially kill them with boxes?" She wildly gestured to the sea of shoe boxes, then placed both hands on her hips.

"Uh, Ayako," Mai groaned and pushed herself up, slightly disorientated. "Um, it's okay, um, we're not hurt or-"

"We could have been hurt!" Ayako plowed on. "Who is the manager? I want to speak with them!"

"Oh, um-"the man cowered, and Mai swore she heard a whimper from him. "He's gone away, vacation, he won't-"

"Did you find some shoes?" Mai cut in, crawling over some boxes to reach them. _Ayako will keep yelling until she's hoarse, and even then she'll still continue. Maybe if I can cut her off-_

"Don't you try pushing the problem aside, Mai!" Ayako jabbed a finger in the man's chest.

"Ayako, he wasn't even near us when this toppled! What reason would he have to do it, anyway?"

"Let's _ask_ him-"

"Did you find some shoes?" Mai asked firmly. She stood in front of Ayako (although that wouldn't really do anything to help). The man stuttered before he finally made a full sentence.

"Yes, I thought these shoes-"He held up a pair of heels-"would go wonderful with your dress, but I had to guess your shoe size. I-I'll do you one better-how about I make these shoes half off? For the inconvenience." His eyes glanced at the shoe boxes surrounding them, then back to Mai.

" _Just_ half off?" Ayako pushed Mai behind her. She crossed her arms and raised a brow. "We almost die, and you only give us half off of these shoes? No. Sixty percent. Take it or we leave...and come back with a lawsuit for assault." Both Mai and the man blanched. _So harsh..._

The man looked like he might've argued (or cowered, it was hard to tell), but closed his mouth once Mai shook her head. The two of them were willing to do anything to placate Ayako.

"The checkout is this way, ma'am." The man put the shoes back in the box and began to lead them. Mai shot one last look at the boxes on the floor. _Something's not right here..._ She frowned. Perhaps if her mind wasn't so tired, then she could have noticed the alarm bells going off in her head, but the prospect of crawling into a warm bed at home led Mai away from the scene. She would have to think of it later.

* * *

Ayako pulled up to the mansion. Mai sighed in relief. After the shoe store, Ayako had stayed true to her word and dragged Mai to get a pedicure. Mai was able to close her eyes as the person worked, replying now and then to Ayako's complaints of Bou-san. Mai, however, had a feeling that maybe Bou-san meant more to Ayako than just someone she bickered with all the time, but Mai didn't dare voice those thoughts, mostly because Mai was dead tired and not in the mood to get hit.

"We're finally home," she said under her breath when Ayako stopped the car. Ayako was still annoyed from the shoe box incident, but it was mingled with a bit of smug pride. Sixty percent off was a good deal for Ayako. For the store? Not so much. _But they could be facing a lawsuit right now, so things could be worse,_ Mai told herself. She bit back another yawn and rubbed her temples. She was ready to go to sleep _now._ It didn't matter if she was in a dumpster or a wonderful bed, Mai was willing to sleep anywhere...

Maybe.

"Mai, are you going to carry some bags or not?" Ayako frowned. Mai groaned and clumsily got out of the car. Approaching the trunk, she saw that Ayako had taken the smallest bag. Mai glared at her. Ayako returned the glare ten fold and pointed to the rest of the (large) bags with a hand on her hip. _Arguing will make me more tired and farther away from a bed._ Mai sighed. _I'll just carry this inside._

Mai managed to get all the bags at once. She had to lift her leg and shut the trunk with her foot, but otherwise Mai didn't loose any of the bags, surprisingly. When they got inside, Mai unceremoniously dropped the bags to the floor. She marched up the stairs, ignored Ayako's shouts, and firmly shut the door behind her.

"I can finally _sleep._ " The thought alone could make Mai cry. "Oh, wait! I almost forgot!" Turning around, Mai locked the door behind her and plopped onto her bed.

"Good _night."_

* * *

A/N: You know what? I love the relationship between Ayako and Mai, we need more fics on them. So yes, if you're angry at me for not having the _wonderful_ date this chapter (I never _specified_ it was a date, just some bonding time), don't worry. That's next chapter. Then again, with what Naru's about to pull...ah, it's better if you see for yourself. If there's any mistakes, or it feels a little rushed, then I'm sorry for that. My week has been busy, which means I haven't had as many chances to double check everything. So, gracias for all the reviews (and by extension, to the reviewers) and get ready to be exasperated.

It's time to go out on a date.


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe, you narcissistic jerk! Are you serious?" Mai planted both hands on her hip and defiantly met Naru's eyes. As soon as they stepped out of the building, Mai had exploded, and she wasn't going to back down. "Instead of just going on a regular date to get this over with-trust me, this is just as unpleasant for _you_ as it is for _me-_ you just _had_ to pull a stunt like this! I can't believe you!" She threw her hands in the air.

"Then you shouldn't have accepted the request," Naru replied coolly. "It's not my fault you chose to go along with Madoka and mother's ridiculous job. That's not my issue."

"You could have made this easy, you know!" Mai fumed. "But _noooo_ , you just _had_ to pull this crap on a 'date', Naru!"

"I never instigated that this was a date."

" _You_ dressed up nice for this! That's what you do on a date!"

"That's what I do in general. You've taken a lot of notice to that, considering I've caught you staring at me more than once. You're not the only person to do that."

Mai screamed a string of incoherent words at Naru. Deciding she wasn't worth his time, Naru turned and began to walk off, his face cold and impassive as ever, which only served to tick off Mai. She quickly ran after him, determined to give Naru an earful. Mai replayed the events that occurred in her head over and over again as she ran, cursing herself for being so gullible. Perhaps if she thought it over again, it might make up for tonight...

* * *

"It's show time."

Mai stared back at herself in the mirror hours before her disastrous night. Her reflection looked more like a stranger and Mai wasn't sure how to feel about it. It didn't totally feel like her; of course, the dress was gorgeous, and so was the makeup, courtesy of Ayako, but... Personally, Mai would have opted to go for something a bit lighter-less makeup, flats instead of heels-but she did see why some women always dressed up so nicely. Mingled with her anxiety, looking at herself Mai sort of felt...bold? Confident? Maybe not quite that far, but the new look did give Mai a little less anxiety. Then again, it wouldn't matter to Kazuya.

Mai exhaled sharply. _Right. Him._

So tonight might not be something Mai would look forward to. Luella and Madoka had originally insisted on finding a place, but Kazuya shocked everyone when he announced he found a location. Mai found it all quite suspicious, to be honest. He goes from distant and rigid, to suddenly cooperative? Something was up. But what was Mai to do? Throw a fit and say no?

Mai shook her head. _Concentrate, Taniyama. Go on a date, come back, get some money, go back to Japan, and then go back to living your normal life. You'll forget about this soon enough._

"Mai? Are you in there?" Luella knocked on the door. "I'm coming in." Luella's reflection entered the mirror. She closed the door behind her and grinned. "Mai, you look wonderful!"

"Thank you." Mai managed a smile. Luella sat down on the bed and smoothed the crinkles on the sheets. They continued to chat and enjoy each other presences when Luella suddenly spoke,

"I know you're nervous." She didn't look at Mai as Luella continued smoothing out the sheets. "That's normal, but it's all kind of exciting, isn't it? I mean, you don't go on first dates every day. Especially someone like Noll."

"Why do you call him that, anyway? Noll."

Luella froze.

"Long story," she blurted. "But that's not what we should focus on!" She stood up with her arms open wide. "You've got a date tonight!" She stood next to Mai.

"Right." Mai played with the ends of her dress. "First date."

"Ever?"

Mai blushed, "No! I've had one or two before this. They never worked out, though. No chemistry."

"Well, maybe that'll change." The edges of Luella's lips tugged into a smirk. Mai blushed even more and looked away, dread forming a knot in her stomach again. Mai moved her hands from her dress to her arms. Luella continued to talk, but Mai didn't pay much attention. She was lost in her own thoughts, and there was only one thing that could help her now.

"Do you have any tea?" The older woman stopped her rambling.

"What?"

"Do you have any tea? I'm really craving a cup right now." Luella smiled at Mai.

"Of course. I'll give you a hint for tonight: the way to Mr. Grumpy's heart is with tea. If tea were a drug, he'd be arrested and sent to prison for life." She laughed. Mai giggled. "So of course, we have tea everywhere around the house. You remember the way to the kitchen, right?"

"Ah...um..."

"I'll lead the way." Luella grabbed Mai's hand and started to drag Mai along. Mai gladly welcomed it-she needed any distraction to get her mind off her date, and nothing helped her more than a nice cup of warm tea. Her mother was the same way. Mai gave a small, albeit a bit melancholy, smile at the thought.

Mai missed her mother.

"Do you have a preference? Favorite taste?" Luella pushed the door and let it flap shut when Mai entered. "We have so much tea, we could fill a harbor with it."

"That's what the Americans did."

Luella blinked rapidly, then laughed.

"You've got some bite in you-that's good for Kazuya. He needs to butt heads with someone every once in a while, and I'm not including his family. No, you're going to challenge him. That's good. Trust me. Now, we just got a shipment of earl gray, would you like some? If not, there's always cinnamon, green tea, chai..."

"No, earl gray is fine." Mai smiled.

"Well, I didn't think I'd find the two of you here." Mai leaned over just in time to see Ayako shut the door behind her. She was wearing the dress she had bought on their shopping trip earlier. It did look good on her, flaunting all her curves and bringing out the color in her eyes.

"You look great, Ayako!" Mai smiled. "Where're you going?" It could have been the poor lighting, but Mai swore she saw a _blush_ dust Ayako's cheeks. Ayako pulled out a chair and sat down next to Mai as Luella grabbed another cup from the cupboard.

"I'm more interested in where _you're_ going, Mai."

Not easily deterred, Mai plowed on, "We both know where I'm going. Luella and I want to know where _you're_ going."

"Is it a date?" Luella sat down with them after she finished putting the tea on the stove. "And now that I think about it, I know _Bou-san_ was dressed up nicely earlier. Anything to say, Ayako?" Luella smirked as Ayako's face steadily turned redder and redder.

"You're going on a date with _Bou-san?"_ Mai grinned.

"I never said that," Ayako snapped. If possible, her face turned even redder, but the sudden gleam in her eyes told Mai that Ayako just found her revenge. "But what we _do_ know is that Mai here is going on a date with Kazuya. You'll tell us if he's a good kisser, right, Mai?"

Mai sputtered. It was her turn to blush now. Ayako and Luella laughed, a smug smirk on Ayako once she was done laughing. Before Mai could attain her revenge, the kettle went off and a cup of steaming tea was placed in front of Mai. She breathed out in relief. She blew on it, swirled the tea a little bit (it helped cool it off) and brought it to her lips.

 _Finally._

When Mai set the cup back down she saw Ayako leaning over expectantly.

"So, do you feel nervous?"

Managing a shrug, Mai replied lightly,

"Not really."

Ayako leaned back and smirked.

"Yeah, right. I can see it all over your face, you're nervous beyond all belief. First date?"

"Why does everyone think that?" Mai grumbled. "No, I've had dates before this."

"With Kazuya, you're definitely not going to a have a run of the mill date," Luella added unhelpfully. Mai's stomach twisted uncomfortably. She shook her head and drank from her tea again. _Just focus on the tea._

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Ayako inquired. Mai shrugged.

"He doesn't really talk with me that much..."

"He doesn't talk that much in general." Ayako waved Mai's worry away. "Don't worry too much."

"She's right, you know. Even as a child he never talked very much, he was-and still is-such a grump." The three women laughed. Mai's sharply cut off when Kazuya strolled in. He looked like he was about to open his mouth, but the tea distracted him momentarily. Luella smirked.

"Would you like some?" She gestured to an empty cup. "It has your name on it, you know."

"We have a reservation at seven and we can't be late for it," Kazuya informed.

"A _reservation?_ You're really going all out on this date." Ayako smirked. "Well, have fun you two, and don't do anything I wouldn't."

 _Yeah right,_ Mai nearly grimaced. _I have a bad feeling this isn't going to end well..._

* * *

"A fair?" Mai blinked. Kazuya stood beside her with an impassive mask. Without saying a word, he strolled past her and further into the bustling crowd. Mai cried out his name and when that didn't work, she begrudginly followed him into the crowd. _You're supposed to stick with your date, right?_ Mai squeezed past a tight group. So then why did Kazuya just leave her behind in the dust?

 _He really is much ruder than I thought._ Mai scowled. She pushed through a small group and managed to find Kazuya. He was staring at a mirror.

"Really?" Mai fumed. "You left me to go stare in a mirror? _Really?"_

"You'll find out why soon," he replied mysteriously. Mai's cheeks flushed.

"You look in a mirror to look at your face! You-you narcissist!" A winning smile suddenly broke across Mai's face. "Oh, _I know the perfect name for you."_

He shot her a frown.

"What?"

" _Naru."_ Mai grinned again. "Naru the Narcissist."

Naru didn't look amused.

" _No."_

"You're not my boss, _Naru._ "

"It's respectful to stop calling someone a name they don't want to be called."

"It's also respectful to _respond_ and _talk_ with a person instead of _snubbing_ them." Mai put her hands on her hips and matched Naru's glare. She wasn't going to back down. "So, _Naru,_ what's your plan for-woah!" Mai's bag flew from Mai's hand and landed in a muddy puddle. She quickly snatched it up and moaned once she saw the stains on it. Practically giving herself whiplash, Mai glared at Naru, as if saying _don't even think about laughing._

Naru smirked.

"I wonder how you managed to do that."

"I dunno what happened, but it wasn't me!" Mai scowled. " _You_ know what happened, don't you?"

"No."

"Liar." Mai's eyes narrowed.

" _There_ you are!" A booming voice cut into the tense conversation. Mai looked past Naru and to a man behind them.

He had a jubilus sort of feel about him. His hair, cut short, was as curly and thick as his bead. While he wasn't sporting anything formal, he definitely wasn't wearing anything casual; he had a mix of both, from the hair on the top of his head to the bottoms of his loafers. The man spread out his arms with a wide grin.

"I've been waiting for you two for hours now! Well, come along, we have a lot to discuss." Naru followed the man without a second thought. Mai, on the other hand, didn't move.

"What?" She sputtered. "Hey, Naru! Wait up!" She speed jogged over to the men (a feat not easily achieved with her shoes on the soft ground, something Naru wouldn't evenappreciate) and glared at Naru. She questioned him again, but it wasn't Naru who answered. It was the man.

"Forget, did you? No matter, that's fine," he said. "My name is Will Harris, and I'm the owner of this fair. I'm sure you remember, but just in case you don't, I've been having some... _issues_ as of late."

"Issues?"

" _Otherworldly issues,"_ Will whispered, quickly glancing to make sure no one was listening. "Why the shocked face? Mr. Shibuya here said you two were experts at the paranormal."

Mai's stomach dropped to her feet.

A flood of memories engulfed Mai-her parents, the house, the mistake-

A new feeling replaced Mai: anger. Blazing fury lit within her, and Mai had half a mind to yell at Naru right then and there.

" _He said what-"_

"Mr. Harris, if you could please lead us to your office. We will discuss further details there."

"Certainly!" Will replied with dramatic flare. The two men once again left Mai behind, but she wasn't deterred, only focusing on catching up them and ripping Naru in two. _That arse! I can't believe he set this all up!_ She gritted her teeth and marched forward, calling Naru's name. Will looked behind every time Mai called, opening his mouth as if to say something, but would close it once seeing the look on Naru's face. This only served to make Mai angrier. She had one thing on her mind: _get back at Naru._

She was forcefully brought back when she was pushed forward.

Into a puddle.

Mai sat up and gaped at her ruined dress. She wasn't in any way a neat person, but that didn't mean Mai liked getting dirty in such a nice dress! A dress she paid for, no less! Will immediately dashed over and helped Mai up, frantically voicing his concern over Mai's health, over her ruined dress, and essentially anything else that would add _dramatic_ flare to the scene. Naru, however, didn't seem too concerned. In fact, he seemed like he was predicting this.

"It seems one of the ghosts has taken a liking to you," he said. Mai glared at Naru.

"You knew this would happen!"

"I didn't know for sure. I suspected, with your extreme emotions, that the ghost may form an attachment to you. I was right." His eyes drifted to a building behind them. Still frowning, Mai craned her neck to catch what Naru was looking at.

 _The house of mirrors?_

"What's so special about that place?" She said before she could stop herself. Will sighed.

"You really don't remember any of the details? That's hardly professional, you should really work on that." Mai's cheeks flushed. "Our house of mirrors is a hotspot for the ghost. A lot of the mirrors break by themselves-they're not cheap, you know-or things fall over all the time. At first I thought it was the people inside of it, or maybe staff," he said, "but when all the mirrors broke when no one was _in_ it, I concluded it must be ghosts." He puffed his chest out pridefully. Ignoring Mai's incredulous look, he continued,

"That is the only logical conclusion, yes? So, naturally, I contacted Martin, and he promised he'd help me out. Well, lo' and behold, his _son_ offers to help me instead!" Will grinned. "Of course I said yes, and when Mr. Shibuya here said that he was bringing a teammate, that I should help her out, too-"Mai shot a fierce glare at Naru, which he ignored-"I was estatic, but I must say, I didn't expect you to be _this_ behind." Will frowned, then smiled. "Well, I have high expectations for you and I'm sure you won't let me down. So!" He clapped his hands together again and turned to Naru. "Since we're already here, shall we go in?"

Naru didn't wait for an answer. With purposeful strides, he approached the house quicker than Mai would liked. If it were up to Mai, she would have left as soon as she came to the carnival and curl up in her bed at home, preferably talking with Kiku and sipping a cup of tea. Mai sighed. _That_ would be nice right now, but a certain _someone_ had to pull a certain _trick,_ and now Mai was spending an _uncertain_ amount of time in a place she was _certain_ she'd rather enjoy with _friends._

 _What did I ever do to_ you, _Naru!_

Catching up with Naru, Mai said, "So, we figure this ghost out and then we go home?"

"It's not as simple as that, _Mai."_

"Who said you could use my first name?"

"Who said you could use _Naru?"_ He challenged back. Mai narrowed her eyes.

 _I hate this guy._

"Now, Mai-can I call you Mai? Wonderful-Mr. Shibuya here has already gotten the chance to go through here. I know the place like the back of my hand, so you better stick with me. Wandering off with make things difficult." He waved a finger at Mai, like scolding a small child. Mai frowned, but wisely didn't say anything. Taking her silence as a yes, Will opened the door for both of them with a dazzling grin. Naru gave the slightest nod of thanks and pressed on. Mai managed a smile (to which Will returned ten fold) and shut the door behind him quietly.

"Here it is," he whispered theatrically. _"Our haunted house of mirrors."_

Mai didn't feel scared. The house of mirrors wasn't impressive at all, to be honest. The entire house was built with wood, but it must have been standing for a long time; there were many breaks in the wood, and it didn't exactly smell great either. Every couple of feet there was a window, adorned with veil-like curtains that fluttered in the small breeze. There wasn't any other source of light. There was only one thing missing...

"Where're the mirrors?" Mai asked.

"Oh, that's down this hallway." Will was slightly put off-he expected more of a reaction from Mai, apparently. "The hallway adds such a flare to this place, don't you think?"

"Er...right."

"Mr. Harris, do you have the keys with you?" Naru asked, his tone all formality. Mai glanced at Will, to Naru, back to Will, and then back to Naru.

"Keys?"

"Yes. There are some doors that can only be unlocked by staff."

"Right-o! Well, I have them right-"Will froze. "Ah, um, they must be in this other pocket, no wait-here? Right here-no, ah, they must be-"He swallowed thickly. "Gone. Left in my office, probably." He coughed awkwardly, then straightened. "Well, Mai, here's your chance to explore the house. I'll go get the keys, and I'll find you two in here later. Sounds like a plan? Great!" Will strolled out the door without giving them a chance. Mai blanched.

 _I'm alone with this jerk now._ Her blanch turned into a frown. _What a great date so far._

"Hey, wait, Naru! Where're you going?" Mai scolded once she caught sight of Naru's retreating back. He turned his head towards her, never stopping.

"Investigating. What else would I be doing?"

"Oh, I dunno, whatever people do on a _date."_

"You're saying you want to go on a date with me? Is that what you want?"'

"What? No!" Mai flushed. "This was _supposed_ to be a date in the first place-"

"The fact that you're pushing for this to be a date isn't helping your cause, Mai."

"The fact that you're being an asshole isn't helping _your_ case, Naru."

"And what exactly would be my case?"

"That you're not an asshole, but you are."

"If anything, you're being the rude one here, Mai. You've been swearing at me, creating rude names for me, and generally being a rude guest. If you have such an issue with me, then the door is right there. You can leave at anytime you wish."

Mai gaped at him, stopping in her tracks. She saw Naru check his phone, then began to exit.

"Get back here right now, Naru!"

* * *

And that was Mai's disastrous night.

Mai yelled at Naru all the way to Will's office. She could tell Naru's patience was thinning, obviously, but Mai didn't really care-if she had to have a bad night, then she would make it clear it was because of Naru. Which it was, anyways. In fact, Mai was so focused on yelling she didn't even notice that they reached Will's office until the receptionist tapped on Mai's shoulders and told her to quiet down. Mai, blushing profoundly, sat down on one of the chairs and didn't say a word. Of course, even though Naru didn't say anything directly, Mai knew he found it justified. He still did when Mai sent him another glare.

"Ah, you got my message! Good! Good!" Mai gave a small start; she wasn't expecting Will to appear. "I'm sorry there had to be a change of plans, I really wanted to explore the house with you, but I do have a busy schedule. Come, come, we can discuss things in more detail in my office." Having no choice, Will pushed Mai along into his office. Naru shut the door behind him.

"Now, it seems like our ghost has taken a liking to you, Mai." Will smiled at her. Mai, not wanting to seem rude, gave a small smile back. "We can use that to our advantage! Don't you agree, Mr. Shibuya? Of course you do, what am I saying. Anyways, tomorrow the carnival will close early just for you two. You can find my ghost and do whatever you want with them-just make sure they leave my carnival alone." He finished dramatically with his hands in the air. "You _will_ get rid of them, right? You promise you will?"

"Um," Mai said. "That's-"

"We make no promises," Naru cut in, "but the case will be solved with the best ability."

"Splendid! If you talk to Mary outside, she'll give you all the details."

"But!" Mai cried.

"Remember: this is also costing me money, so you two better finish this quickly!"

"But I'm not-"

"And remember: stay safe!" Will gave them a dazzling smile before shutting the door in their faces. Mai, flabbergasted, belatedly cried,

"But I'm not a ghost hunter!"

"Shhh!" Mary glared at Mai. "Please, we have very many people on the phone and you _need_ to be quiet."

Mai blushed even darker and clapped her hands over her mouth. She turned to face Naru, but found he was gone. He was already at the exit. _He's like a shadow, I can never keep track of him!_ Mai scowled. _And now he thinks he's going to leave? Oh no you won't!_

"Where do you think you're going!" Mai blocked Naru off and jabbed him in the chest with a finger.

"To investigate. Where else?"

"You dragged me into this on purpose!"

"Must we have this conversation again, Mai?"

" _Yes!"_

"I don't like to waste words, Mai. Or time."

"Yeah, well _you_ wasted _mine._ " Mai jabbed her finger into his chest harder. Frowning, Naru stepped back. "I don't care what anyone says, I'm _not_ going to help you with this. I'm going to enjoy myself, go back to the mansion, get the money, and go back home in Japan _away from you._ " She stepped forward with a hiss. "And there is _nothing_ you can do about it, Naru!" Spinning on her heels, Mai slammed the door behind her.

Away from Will.

Away from the investigation.

And _away from Naru._

* * *

A/N: Okay...but did you guys honestly expect Naru to be okay with this? Of course he wouldn't! So, yes, the "date" isn't over yet, but it definitely hasn't had a great beginning. Sorry if this felt rushed or anything, but I have bad news-all upcoming updates may be late. Sorry! But with school approaching, and when school starts, it's going to be very hard to get a chapter out every Tuesday. With my schedule for this year, it's going to be hard to fit in writing, but I'll manage somehow. Additionally, my request for a beta reader still stands! It would really help me out if I didn't have to spend time writing _and_ proofreading, instead of just writing. It would also make chapters like these ones easier, considering the amount of times I spent re-visioning scenes before running out of time to write. Since that's the last important announcement, it's this time again-thank you all for the reviews, and to the reviewers, too!

(Also, let's have a small contest! I've based Will Harris on two people. One is a jolly man who gives presents out to children on the eve of of a certain holiday. The other person? He's based on a person from a very popular Ghost Hunt fic, one who runs a theatre and is very dramatic. I'll give you another hint-his initials are J.S. The first person who gets it can request a (reasonable!) surprise, like shout outs or a requested chapter. Something like that. Good luck!)

See you all next Tuesday!


	8. Chapter 8

Mai slammed the door behind her.

"What an inconsiderate ass!" Mai growled. She only saw red as she tore through crowds, receiving many dirty looks but ignoring them all. _If I can't have fun with him, I'll have fun by myself._ She scowled. One particular stand caught her eye: a ring toss. Mai abruptly changed her direction and marched towards the stand.

"How much to play?" She demanded. Realizing that the attendant didn't speak Japanese, Mai switched to English.

"Two-two euros," the attendant trembled. Mai slammed the money on the table and prepared herself to win.

"Alright," she exhaled, "let's do this!"

She missed every ring.

"I'm very sorry, miss, would you like to go again?" The attendant cautiously asked as they prodded Mai's collapsed form. Mai, not willing to back down, practically jumped up and made a fist of determination.

"Yes!"

After failing two more times, another stand caught Mai's eye, this time a cotton candy stand. She forgot all about her game and practically ran to the stand.

"How much for one?" She asked. Her eyes hungrily sought out the sweet pink and blue clouds behind the woman. The woman smiled, replied with the price, and a minute later Mai was munching on two cotton candies, each a different color. _Alright, what's next?_ Mai licked her lips. She could go on the Ferris Wheel-that certainly would be fun-or maybe check out some more games. Then again, there was always the face painting booth...

 _So much to do, so little time._ Mai exhaled slowly and thoughtfully leaned back on the bench. After a minute, Mai made the decision and strolled over to the face painting. Sitting down on a bench all night wouldn't be very fun, but _face painting_ sounded like a marvelous idea.

Ten minutes later, Mai was happily munching on more cotton candy, taking care to avoid smudging the beautiful design on her face. She threw it in the bin again.

Mai jumped back when she nearly ran into a clown. For a moment, its dark blue costume made Mai think of a certain someone...Mai blushed and crossed her arms. _The nerve of him!_ _I'm so glad I left,_ Mai hissed, _I'm_ not _spending my time as his toy._ Mai's feet led her away from the clown and off somewhere else. To where, she didn't know. All Mai knew that the farther away from the house of mirrors she was, and subsequently Naru, the happier Mai would be.

A piercing scream jolted Mai from her thoughts. The scream turned into a laughter. Mai's shoulders sagged from relief. She was being silly, there was no reason to worry, the ghost would have been occupied with Naru, not wandering around the carnival. Her fears managed somewhat, Mai decided to check out the source of the noise. If someone was laughing, then surely it must have been fun, right?

No, it wasn't.

Mai blanched when she saw the spinning tea cups. The last time she went on one, Mai ended up throwing up on her parents, and then when she turned away the vomit did too, and then...well, Mai hadn't been on one since. Or on any spinning vehicle.

Mai turned away and quickly sped off. She'd be fine as long as she didn't get on, as long as-

"-You strap the seat belts, then you won't fly out of the seat! Now, I hope you don't mind getting dizzy, these spinning tea cups have made people throw up. Hope you've got a strong stomach, and have fun!" Mai gave a start. What? She wasn't in-

 _Oh no._

"Wait, there's been a mistake! I don't want to go on this!" Mai waved her hand to catch the teenager's attention, but it didn't work, not that it would have in the first place: they were helping someone else. _No! Turn around!_ Mai cried. _How'd I even get on this thing? I was walking away!_ Hurriedly, she tried to undo her seat belt. It wouldn't budge. It seemed like every time Mai tried to loosen it, it _tightened_ to the point where Mai's stomach was hurting. _Is this a joke?_ Mai nearly pulled her hair out. _Who-_

 _Wait...was I possessed?_ Mai stopped her struggling. _Of course._ The ghost wanted to mess with Mai even more. Never mind the fact they ruined her dress and her bag, they wanted to make her throw up everywhere too. _I'm not going to allow that to happen!_

The seat belt suddenly loosened. Mai took the chance and quickly undid it.

"Stop!" She began to cry, but it was too late. The lever was pulled, and Mai was hurled onto the floor. The world turned into a blur of colors, and the cotton candy Mai had earlier was thinking of making an exit. Mai curled up into a ball, but it only made her ram into the wall. Ignoring the shrieks of laughter, Mai managed to pull herself up and lean over the ridge of the cup. _I think I'm going to be sick._ She covered her mouth and closed her eyes, as if it would stop the world from spinning so much. It didn't help very much-it only made things worse, actually.

Mai's eyes snapped open: she wasn't alone. She slowly looked behind her. Poised perfectly on the seat sat a little girl. She folded her hands in her lap with her ankles tucked in. Her braids and dress moved wildly in the wind, but one smug smile later she disappeared. Closing her eyes again, Mai cursed. That ghost felt different from the one before, which only meant one thing-

There was more than one ghost haunting the park.

Ignoring the attendant's cries of "Ma'am, please put on your seat belt!" and the stares of others, Mai retched, but managed to keep her food down. She wouldn't embarrass herself in front of the living _and_ the dead.

The ride suddenly stopped.

Mai shrieked and was pulled backward from the force. Her back slammed into the rim of the cup, and before she knew it Mai was going down. When she opened her eyes she found a circle of employees surrounding her. They all visibly sighed in relief. One turned and spoke something to someone, but Mai couldn't see.

"She's awake, Mr. Shibuya." Mai's eyes widened. She abruptly sat up.

"Naru?" She spoke in Japanese without realizing it.

"Glad to see you're awake. It seems you were busy while you were gone." Naru said, towering above Mai. Mai, frowning, crossed her arms with a huff.

"If you count almost throwing up as busy, then yes, I was busy. I was having fun until I got on _those_ death machines somehow." Mai jerked her head towards the tea cups. "And I don't remember getting on them at all."

"That is to be understood, you hit your head, you're bound to forget some things," one of the employees soothed. She apparently spoke Japanese. She didn't need to-Mai already spoke English, thanks to her parents teaching her as a child. However due to the fact Mai rarely used it, her English wasn't the best.

"I _know_ I didn't consciously get on those things," Mai said hotly, "I _know_ I was possessed. And that's not the only thing, either!"

"Continue." Naru frowned. Mai dusted herself off and stood up in order to stop feeling so small, despite the fact she was still a head shorter than Naru.

"I saw a ghost. A different one than from before, which can only mean there's more than one ghost haunting this park," Mai persisted. "And _no,_ I know I'm not seeing things. I know she was a ghost. I could feel the hair on my arms and neck stand up when she appeared."

"Those aren't the only symptoms of a ghost appearing."

"Well it's _one_ of them, and I know I'm right. I _know_ I saw a ghost." She set her jaw and looked Naru straight in the eye. There was a tense moment where Naru frowned, but then turned away and started to walk.

"We should report your findings to Mr. Harris," he said, "and then call on the others. This park is too big for just two people-we're going to need more."

"The others?" Mai asked. She had to speed jog to match Naru's pace. "Who?"

"You've already met them."

"I have?"

"You have a brain, Mai, use it."

"Of course I have a brain!" Mai scowled. "It's just hard to think right now, my head is still spinning..."

"Poor excuses, Mai."

"Why you-!"

"Are you going to keep yelling at me, Mai, or can I open the door?" Mai blinked. _We reached Mr. Harris already?_ Mai followed Naru into the building. Mai didn't remember the way, but Naru did. Of course. Naru knocked once and waited for Will to open the door. Once he did, Will ushered them in with a cheerful smile.

"I didn't expect you two back so soon, did you solve the case already?" He looked at both of them hopefully.

"No," Naru said. Will visibly deflated. "We come bearing bad news, unfortunately."

"You-You do?"

"There's more than one ghost here. Mai has seen another ghost." Will gasped and took Mai's hands into his own.

"Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah!" Mai gave a weak smile. Will stared at her intently, unconvinced.

"You're _sure?"_

"Y-Yes!" Mai stuttered, sincerely wishing Will would let go. He did, but only after a scrutinizing look. "So, Naru, do you want to tell him about what happened?" Mai urged.

"You experienced it, Mai. You should tell it."

 _Seriously? What did I ever do to you, Naru!_

"What _did_ happen, Mai?" Will pleaded. Relenting, Mai sighed.

"Well, I went out to have fun-"She glared at Naru-"and I got possessed somehow. Next thing I know, I'm in the spinning tea cups ride _without_ a working seat belt. I fix it, I stand up, ride goes off, I see girl, and then I fall over and hit my head and pass out." It came out in a rush. Mai didn't really want to relive it again.

"A little slower for the group, Mai."

"Why don't _you_ explain it, Naru?"

"I don't need to explain it again. I told you I don't like to waste words."

"Wait, Mai left you for what? Is that face paint on you?" Mai froze. Will heard the beginning, unfortunately. "I thought you were staying with your teammate? I thought you were going to help?"

"That is, um..." Mai trailed off. "Well," she said, then stopped again. "Ah..." She was silent, then heavily sighed when Will pleaded more, "Yes, I'm helping."

Mai wanted to wipe off Naru's smirk.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Will looked like he was about to reach for Mai's hands again, but she had (wisely) tucked them in her lap.

"If you will excuse us, we have to call some others to help."

"The more the merrier!" Will grinned. "Now, all I ask is that you report back anything you find, and everything will go smoothly." Naru didn't give a reaction. Mai gave a weak smile. "Alrighty then, go call on your ghost hunting team-"Naru's eyes darkened in annoyance-"and then we can solve this soon, hmm?" Will stood up. Following suite, Mai and Naru did the same. Will escorted them out, gave some quick instructions for Mary (his receptionist) and then headed off to fix something or another. Once outside, Mai gave another heavy sigh.

 _So much for having fun by myself tonight, but..._ She tensed. The image of the ghost girl popped into her mind-her braids, her dress, her smug smile-

Mai shook her head. She couldn't focus on herself-she needed to work on passing on those ghosts. _It looks like I'll be continuing my parents' legacy after all._

"So, Naru, who-"They stopped. The lamp post started to flicker. In fact, all the lights were. "Naru," Mai said slowly. The lights stopped flickering for a moment. Then they shut off. All of them.

The whole park was consumed in darkness.

"...We should call the others now, shouldn't we."

"Yes, Mai. We should."

* * *

A/N: Sorry this is up so late, everyone! Life was (and still is) kinda hectic right now. Sorry this chapter is so short compared to the other two, but I _did_ mention that chapter lengths could vary greatly, this chapter being an example. And no, I can't promise a longer chapter because I haven't written the next on yet.

I'm not a productive person.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest! The winner is "Nerdgal" who successfully guessed the right answers first: Santa Clause and Joji Sachi. He's from **_Ghost Hunters, Lies, & Money _** by SheSailsShips. It's an amazing fanfic, I highly suggest everyone checks it out! As always, thanks for the reviewers, reviewers, and we'll (hopefully) see each other next Tuesday.


	9. Chapter 9

"It's getting late. The fair closed a while ago, we should call them tomorrow," Mai said.

"The fair was closing early _for_ us. Besides, the electricity went out, so everyone left already."

"No one is going to come with the stunt you pulled."

"They will if they want to get paid." Mai huffed and crossed her arms. They had left the house of mirrors a little while ago to see if there was any activity, but nothing happened. Perhaps the ghost was weaker than they thought. Or maybe they were scared. Either way, they weren't coming out any time soon.

"It's not my fault everyone thought it was a date."

"And here we go _again,"_ Mai groaned. Naru ignored her and took out his phone. "I'm telling you, they're not going to do it."

"You're very persistent."

"You're very annoying."

"You're very rude."

"You're very narcissistic."

"You're very simple."

"What do you mean by _that-"_

"Madoka," Naru greeted, turning away from Mai and to his phone. "You need to"-he blinked. "It's finished already? I thought it wouldn't be done for another day or so." He waited a moment before replying, "That's different, I didn't think of that." Mai heard laughing over the phone before Madoka started speaking. Naru didn't listen. Instead, he cut her off.

"You need to come to the carnival." Mai heard Madoka slowly reply. "Because we're investigating at least two ghosts in a large place. Tonight, Mai and I will head back to to the house to check out the results, then we'll come back here tomorrow. Grab everyone else. We meet at ten AM tomorrow morning."

The silence lasted for a moment.

Naru held the phone away from his ear as Madoka's voice blasted through the speakers. He let her blow off steam for a moment-and hung up on her.

"Naru!" Mai admonished. "You hung up on her!"

"Your observational skills never cease to amaze me, Mai."

"That was rude! Both insulting me and hanging up on Madoka!"

"It was not rude, it was blunt. There's a difference."

"You're such a jerk, Naru!"

"You're incredibly loud, Mai. Now let's go, we need the keys to the rest of the park. And a flashlight." Seething, Mai fumbled her phone out, and the two used their phones to navigate through the dark park, Mai continuing to give him grief. Naru's arrogant replies only fueled Mai's irritation; yet, in a way, she was thankful for the distraction. At night, everything was creepy; shadows followed the duo as they trekked on the dirt, steel rides would emit a distant shriek every few minutes, the presence of someone following Mai grew stronger-

"Is someone following us?" Mai blurted. Naru, pausing, turned a bit to look at her.

"What makes you say that?"

"I dunno, a feeling?" Mai said. "I just . . ." She bit her lip. She didn't want Naru concerned for her, reasoning to herself that it was because she didn't like him that much. Mai didn't want anyone to worry about herself - it felt too much like pity.

"Look, let's just get going. I don't want to spend another minute here," Mai added. Another ride shrieked in the distance. Naru stared at her for a moment longer than necessary, but seemed to hold back whatever he was going to say. He continued walking without another word. Upon reaching Will's office and finding he had left, they took the keys, scribbled a note explaining their absence, and left quickly. Neither of them wanted to stay for long.

Mai shot one last look over her shoulder before she stepped into her car.

"Are you getting in? Or do you want to walk home?" Naru said. Mai huffed, but got in without another word. The first ride here was awkward enough-now they had to go on a second ride? And a third one for tomorrow? After all the yelling Mai did? She sunk in her seat, the confining space worsening her mood.

England was awful.

* * *

The next morning at the fair, Mai was shivering in her coat. Since it was the beginning of spring it was still cold, and considering Japan was much warmer, Mai was still having issues adjusting to the temperature.

 _And does Naru care? No._ She snorted with a shake of her head.

"Mai, are you going to help out or what?" Ayako snapped, dropping a box onto a stack. "You're not here to sight see." Ayako had been in a crabby mood ever since she was forced to wake up early again, no less for an investigation she had no interest in. Mai bit back her own retort, taking in a few breaths, before picking up the stack of boxes. And then nearly falling over.

Shooting a glare at Ayako for her lack of help, Mai trekked over to a tent set up near Will's office. Dew drops littered the grass and made it slippery to walk on, but Mai managed not to fall. Once inside, she sighed with relief. Lifting up the flap, Mai set her load down on the rugs, taking a moment to breathe and shoot another glare at Naru. Naru wasn't paying attention - he was busy setting up the computers with Lin.

"Mai, as much as you like staring at my face, that won't help get anything set up."

Mai blushed to the roots of her hair.

"I am not _staring!_ And I don't like looking at your face!" She replied fiercely. Someone put their hands on Mai's head and began to ruffle her hair.

"You know, he is right. We won't get anything done by staring at Naru's face."

"But I wasn't-"

"Mai, grab the rest of the cameras," Naru said. "Bou-san, help her." The monk gave a two fingered salute, then steered Mai out of the tent and back to the van. They arrived to see that Ayako hadn't taken out the rest of the boxes; instead, she was waiting for their "help", and through a a fierce glare and a point of her manicured finger, Mai got the message. Bou-san began to argue that Ayako herself could have taken care of the boxes, which only made the two bicker as usual. Mai sighed.

"We really should be getting the boxes," she said. The other two were far too engrossed in their fight to notice. Mai sighed again and picked up a box herself. _With the way things are going, I'll be the only one bringing in these things._ She readjusted her grip on them. _And that'll take all night._ With a groan, Mai entered the tent and stacked the boxes on top of each other. Suddenly, a thought struck her.

"Naru?" She asked.

"Yes?"

"Have you eaten anything this morning?"

"That's of no importance."

"Naru!" Mai scolded. "You need to eat breakfast!"

"Go get the boxes, Mai," Naru said listlessly. "That's what a competent worker does."

Mai flushed with anger.

" _A competent worker?_ First off, that implies that I would _willingly_ work for you, which I would not-"

"You're wasting time, Mai. Those boxes won't carry themselves." Adding insult to injury, Naru inclined his heads towards the small pile of boxes.

"I'm not a servant! You carry the boxes yourself, jerk!" It seemed Mai struck a nerve; Lin, annoyed with Mai's yelling, turned around and glared at Mai. Mai quickly clammed up. Naru smirked.

"Are you going to get those boxes, Mai?"

"Yes, right, right. . ." Resigned and flustered, she left. Fortunately, by the time Mai had gotten back, Bou-san and Ayako seemed to resolve their conflict, and were now searching the car for something. When Mai inquired to what they were looking for, Ayako huffed and crossed her arms.

" _Someone_ forgot the tea," she said, sending a fierce glare at Bou-san.

"It wasn't my job to bring it, woman!"

"I can ask around for some tea," Mai said. She didn't want them to start another fight; they had too much to do. "I'm _sure_ they have tea here. I can go look-"

"You might as well," Ayako said, "Bou-san is going to take all day finding the tea he didn't bring."

"It wasn't my job to bring it!"

Mai was already gone by the time the two started to bicker again. She began to ask around for tea when an employee lead Mai to the staff kitchen. Twenty minutes later, Mai left with three cups of steaming drinks and a small hope that tea would placate her friends. Her mouth watered as the thick, velvety scent taunted Mai. Just when her self control had almost depleted, she felt a vibrate in her pocket. She got a text.

 _-Come back to the tent._

 _-whos this?_

 _-You really are this dense, aren't you?_

 _-...this is naru, isnt it?_

Mai moaned and slipped her phone back into her pocket. She began walking to her new destination, truly hoping the tea wouldn't get cold by the time Mai could drink it. Fortunately, they did not, and when Mai finished her task, she gratefully took a sip. The amber liquid sparked a mirage of memories within Mai. She smiled. _Just like how mom used to make it._

 _Clink._

"Wha-Wait! Naru! That's not for - you," Mai moaned when Naru ignored her and sipped his tea. He paused, then finished the rest of the drink. He reached for the next one.

"Oh no you won't, Naru, that's not for you." Mai snatched the cup away. Naru glared at her.

"Give it to me, Mai."

"No. You have no manners, Naru, and besides, this isn't for you. Nor was that other one," she added, "so you don't get anymore. Now if you don't need me, I'm going to go-"

"Make more tea."

"No, I'm not."

"You either make more tea or you carry more boxes. Pick your option." Mai made a face and grumbled in defeat.

"Can I at least bring some tea to-"

"Bou-san and Ayako should be working, not taking a break to drink."

"That's exactly what you're doing!"

"I can multitask, Mai. It's an advantage of being a genius, but I don't expect you to understand. Now, are you getting tea or not?" He held up his cup, still staring at the computers. Mai nearly pulled her hair out.

"Fine, _Your Highness_ ," she muttered under her breath. She marched back to the staff kitchen and came back with more cups. She set one down next to Naru, and was about to leave when he spoke.

"Mai?"

"Hm?"

"As much as I enjoyed it, you typically don't refer to your boss as 'Your Highness'," he said. Mai squeaked. _Crap, I was caught!_

"Well, it's, um, a good thing you're not my boss-"

"Go see if Bou-san needs help," he cut across her. Mai quickly left.

"Where is Bou-san?" She tapped her chin in thought. Something crashed in one of the tents; a moment later, a very disgruntled monk came out, rubbing his head and muttering under his breath. Upon seeing Mai, he brightened.

"Mai! There you are." Bou-san waved her over. "I was looking for you for a while. I thought I saw you following a guy into a tent, but it turns out it was just a woman looking for her dog. Thought I was gonna kidnap her or something. Honestly, with her purse, _she_ was more of a danger than _me."_ He rubbed the back of his head with a grumble. Mai tried to hide a laugh, but it slipped past her. Bou-san pretended to frown, but eventually joined in laughing with Mai.

"So where were you, exactly? I thought you were supposed to bring tea?"

"I was, but _Naru_ ended up drinking it."

"Naru?"

"Oh, that's right! I don't think I told you my new nick name for Kazuya. Naru, essentially, is short for 'Narcissistic Naru-chan.'" Mai giggled. "It's quite fitting for him."

"No kidding." Bou-san let out a short, bark-like laugh. "Describes him to a T."

"By the way, do you need any help with . . . whatever you're doing?"

"No, I'm just scoping the place, getting a feel, the usual." He shook his head.

"Those robes . . . you're a monk?"

"Yup." Bou-san gave off a half-grin, half-smirk. "It's a side gig. Same goes for Ayako."

"I should probably check on her, actually. I don't want Naru to give me more grunt work," Mai grumbled. Bou-san laughed, ruffled Mai's hair again (then laughed at her pout) and sent her in the direction of Ayako.

By now the sun was high in the sky, yet it was only a little warmer than in the morning. The dew drops had dried off by now; indeed, the grass seemed taller and lanky now, as if it missed the moisture that held it down. Mai picked a grass blade and made it into a whistle, which turned out to be a good choice to entertain Mai: Bou-san had sent Mai in the wrong direction. That, or Ayako had left. Regardless, Mai now had to look for the fiery red-head, a task she wasn't entirely keen to take.

"Let's see, if I were Ayako, where would I go . . ." Mai tapped her chin in thought. "I think she talked about a cute guy working at the ring toss. I should go check that out." She spun on her heel and walked towards her destination.

Sure enough, Mai was right.

Ayako had a pair of rings around her finger, yet she wasn't focused on the game; her attention was dedicated to the man working behind the counter. Mildly uncomfortable, he awkwardly smiled and nodded as Ayako ranted. Ayako didn't seem to notice the man's discomfort.

"-and then-"

"Ayako, there you are." Mai approached the two. "Don't you need to get back to work?"

"I already set up the cameras," Ayako said, a hint of impatience in her voice. Apparently, she wasn't done flirting yet.

"Well, do you need any help?"

"No," Ayako said. "You can leave us alone, I'm having a nice chat with Daniel." Daniel tried to smile, but it merely looked like a grimace. _I need to get Ayako away from this guy, or she'll keep talking the day away,_ Mai told herself. "So," began Ayako, "if you could-"

"-come with me to make tea?" Mai blurted. _Really, that's the excuse you make? Asking her to make tea?_ Mai mentally shook her head.

Ayako seemed taken back, almost insulted.

"It's _tea,_ Mai. How hard is it to make?"

"There's a bunch of flavors in the staff kitchen," Mai said, fiddling with the bottom of her jacket. "And I want to make sure that I choose the best flavor for you. For future reference, you know."

"I like lavender tea, and that's all you need to know," Ayako said flatly.

"It would annoy Bou-san," Mai invented wildly. This seemed to have finally caught Ayako's attention. "You know, he didn't get his tea either-"

"-where were you, by the way? I waited too long for that tea and it never showed up-"

"-and I know it would just irk him so much if you ended up getting tea while he has to work all day," Mai said. Ayako was quiet for a moment, then grinned.

"You know, I never pass up the opportunity to annoy Bou-san." She turned to Daniel. After waiting a couple seconds, she frowned. "Well?" She demanded. "Aren't you going to ask me for my number?"

"Um . . ." Daniel trailed off. He bit his lip, shifted his weight from foot to foot, then steeled himself for what he would say next. "No," he said.

"No?" Ayako growled. She slammed the rings down on the table. "You're one of _those_ men, aren't you? You act all interested, and then you don't even ask for the girl's number. _Despicable."_

"Um, I have a husband-"

"Let's go, Mai. We've got better things to do around here." Ayako spun around, her hair trailing like a furious flame, and marched away, leaving behind hot air and perfume. Mai smiled apologetically to Daniel, which he returned, before she caught up with Ayako. It was best not to keep her waiting.

"Don't ever trust men, Mai. They're liars," Ayako said. "The _nerve_ of him, honestly, how dare he." She flipped her hair over her shoulders. It was then Mai remembered something.

"Do you need any help with anything, Ayako?"

"Yes, actually. I need to to carry a bag for me. I need to get changed into my clothes." Mai instantly moaned, but passed it off as a cough when Ayako glared at Mai. _Only carry one bag? Please, I'll probably be carrying four, and Ayako's not going to help at all._

When they reached the van, Mai hauled out Ayako's bags - all five of them. As predicted, Mai carried them all to the staff's house, for Ayako refused to change in any of the bathrooms ( _"Do you know what kind of dirt is in there, Mai? Are you trying to kill me?")_.

"Would you still like some tea, Ayako?" Mai said. Ayako replied yes, and with an air of superiority she went to go change into her clothes. When Ayako came back, there was already a cup of tea waiting for her.

"You're a priestess, Ayako?" Mai blinked, noticing Ayako's new clothes. Ayako frowned.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" She said, a hint of defense in her voice.

"It's just, um, I wasn't expecting it," Mai said. "Would you like any lemon in your tea?"

And so the two women sat and chatted with each other. Unfortunately, neither of them noticed the time, for when Mai received a text message on her phone, it had been hours since they sat down. When Mai voiced the time, Ayako didn't seem bothered by it.

"He needs to learn that rest is important for beauty," Ayako simply said. Mai, finding no appropriate response, made a face and read the text to herself.

 _Come to the house of mirrors. Something is wrong with the cameras there. Those idiots set them up wrong. Hurry up._

Mai sighed.

"Naru says I have to check some of the cameras," she said. Ayako raised a brow, as if saying _Are you sure you want to do that?_

"You know-"

"That Naru's going to have my - _our_ \- head for slacking off for hours. I don't need him to yell at me for another thing." Mai brushed her bangs out of her face with a grumble. Waving goodbye, Mai ventured to the house. She stood in front of it, butterflies besieging her stomach. Or maybe it was something else - after all, Mai couldn't shake off the feeling that something was _wrong._ Why would Naru send Mai alone to a hot spot, especially when the ghost had taken a liking to Mai?

Determined to ask him herself, Mai spun around on her heels and marched back - but something cold grabbed her ankle.

Mai only had enough time to register that fact when she was pulled into the house of mirrors. With a yelp, she was thrown against the ground; heart pounding, Mai ran to the door to open it, but she was too late.

With a click, the door locked.

Mai was trapped.

* * *

A/N: Well, that only took eight months. I'm truly sorry for the wait - there's really no excuse for me to make. All I can say is that I apologize, and hope that this chapter is up to par. Fortunately, work on chapter ten has already started. When it will come out, however, is undetermined because of school work. Nevertheless, it will come out! And with that note, it's time to close this chapter . . . and then finish the next one.


	10. Chapter 10

Mai pounded on the door.

"Bou-san? Ayako?" She cried. "Is anyone out there?" Panic quickly became terror. "Let. Me. _Out!_ " Mai pounded with each word. She took a deep breath, stepped back, then rammed her shoulder into the door. It didn't budge. She moaned in pain and rubbed her shoulder. Feeling like she was being watched, Mai slowly turned on the spot and faced the hallway before her. A breeze seem to blow behind her, lifting the frail curtains and tickling Mai's ear.

She shuddered.

"This isn't good," Mai whispered. "I can't get out, no one can hear me through the cracks in the door, and the only way to go is forward." She started to feel sick, her stomach churning. "I'm going to _kill_ Naru!" She clenched her fists. "Seriously, he couldn't just take me out on a normal date and then be done with it?" Mai kicked the door in frustration, promptly regretting it when pain shot up her foot. Bouncing on one leg, Mai lowered it after inspecting her foot and turned to the hallway again.

 _You know what? I'll be fine. It's not like the ghost is homicidal. I can do this easily._ She puffed out her chest, even if she didn't feel very brave at the moment. Yet as seconds turned into minutes, Mai didn't budge, nor did the sickening sensation in her stomach go away. _Just . . . take a step forward. One tiny step. You can do it, Mai!_

She didn't move.

 _Okay, then look at it like this - if you can get through this, you can yell at Naru._ Mai sharply exhaled, then took a daring step forward. The door behind her banged, making Mai yelp and run forward. Whispery laughter followed her, pulling at her clothes, yanking at her hair, and sneering, as if saying _"Look how brave you are, running away so quickly."_

Mai slowed down to a stop, the laughter ceasing. She inhaled shakily. Going back to the door seemed like a good idea - the closer to a possible exit she was, the happier she would be - but that would mean Mai would have to go through the shadowy hallway again, and she wasn't too keen to do that.

Taking a few steps backward, Mai bumped into something smooth and cold. She whipped around, then sighed in relief.

"Just a mirror," she said. "Nothing more."

Something grabbed the back of Mai's leg. She jumped and spun around, ready to defend herself against the person at fault.

. . .

Nothing.

"What?" Mai trembled. A new set of shivers engulfed her. Feeling like her heart dropped to her stomach, Mai turned back to the mirror.

 _Is . . . is that an outline of a person?_ Mai narrowed her eyes and leaned in. Her stomach jolted, and she pulled back just in time for the mirror to crack like an exploding light bulb. Glittering shards flew past her, but none of them hit Mai. She hesitantly lowered her arms. Her breathing was heavy and labored. Mai took a step backward. Glass snapped its neck beneath Mai's shoes.

"That . . ." Mai didn't even realize she murmured something. Anything was better than the suffocating silence. But Mai could feel it - whoever was doing this wasn't done yet.

They were just starting.

Mai turned her eyes away from the broken mirror and back to the hallway ahead. _What motivated me last time? Oh, right, yelling at Naru._ She trudged forward again. _I'll threaten to never make him tea again. Maybe I'll give him_ iced _tea and see how he reacts._ If Mai were not scared out of her wits, she would have laughed.

She soon reached an door. Mai went to open it, but it wouldn't open; frowning, Mai noticed a key. Grabbing it, she stepped back to have a closer look at the door. She knelt down, unprepared for what would happen next.

The door swung open; it smacked Mai in the face; the shriek of a giggle rushed past her; the key flew out of her hands, slid across the floor, and was swallowed under the crack of another door; and then the door slammed shut. Mai, on the floor cradling her nose, managed a groan. She pushed herself on to her palms. Small beads of blood dotted the floor. Mai took out a tissue and pressed it against her nose, far more shaken than before - and angry.

"Ow," she pressed harder against her nose. "Why did it do that to me?" she whined. Mai suddenly stilled. _Where is the key?_

The door behind Mai rattled. Mai let out a small "oh" as she realized what the rattle meant. _Guess I know where the key is._ Stomach churning, Mai cautiously approached it. She touched it, then jumped backwards. The door still didn't move.

"You're not gonna slam against my face again, are you?" Mai challenged. The door didn't reply.

Huffing to hide her terror, Mai slowly opened the door, wincing at the loud creek it emitted. A musty scent beckoned Mai to go down the stairs and into the darkness. _It's the basement,_ Mai thought. _Of course, it's always the basement. Why couldn't ghosts ever go in a nice, bright room?_ But Mai knew that if she wanted that key, the only way to go was down.

She took a step forward. The door slammed shut. Mai yelped and tripped; catching the railing at the last moment, Mai winced at the sudden tenderness in her ankle. She took out her phone and turned the flashlight to her ankle. Mai was no doctor, but she figured that her ankle wasn't broken or sprained, just a bit stretched. She released a shaky breath. Hand clutching her heart, Mai closed her eyes to try to calm herself down.

 _You can do this, you can do this, you're strong, Mai - just get the key and get out of here . . ._ Exhaling, Mai descended down the stairs. The basement was corpse-quiet and cold. Mai shivered and made a mental note to dress warmer.

Something slid across the floor. Mai stilled. She slowly rotated on the spot, and found a key in the middle of the room. Mai glanced around before approaching it. She unsteadily grabbed it, senses acutely aware; finding no retaliation from the ghost, Mai ran up the stairs without looking back.

She slammed the door behind her and leaned against it, sighing deeply. Gripping the key in her hands, Mai marched forward and unlocked the door. Reflected light scampered from the darkness. Mai knew where she was: the mirror part of the house.

Except for the sound of a dripping faucet somewhere, the place was quiet. Too quiet. _How does the quote go again?_ Mai gulped. _Oh, right, just keep swimming, just keep swimming . . ._ Mai snuck a glance at her reflection. Tall and wonky, it's exaggerated height made Mai pause to inspect it. She touched the smooth surface. Suddenly, the mirror started to crack where Mai placed her hand. She yanked it back.

"Time to go!" Her voice was several octaves higher than normal. Mai ran as fast as she could, catching perverted reflections of herself in the corner of her eyes, and Mai could have sworn she saw a small figure running with her, but when she would look away, Mai would find herself alone.

She skidded to a stop. A sense of dread ensnared her. _Oh no._

It was a mirror maze.

Something banged. Mai shot a look backward and impulsively ran forward. Navigating it was hard - Mai kept running face first into the glass. She was starting to get another bloody nose, and when blood got on the mirror, she winced. She didn't stick around to clean it. Mai continued to stumble through the maze, and when she made it out, she nearly cried with relief. Instead, she pressed the tissue harder against her nose and ran out of the house.

Twilight had fallen upon the fairgrounds. The sun began to set, lulling the grounds into a daze with a gentle warmth, and the first trace of the moon began to appear in the sky. It seemed too serene for Mai, considering the terror she had just faced before. She rubbed her arms and laid a palm across her heart, breathing heavily. She still felt terrified. At least her bloody nose had stopped.

Something brushed her lower back. Mai turned around and stiffened when she saw no one there.

 _Let's go,_ she told herself quickly. She didn't have to run for long before someone found her.

"Mai!" Ayako called. Mai turned her head towards the source. Bou-san and Ayako approached Mai, looking relieved. "You've been missing for hours, where were you?" Ayako demanded.

"I was sent to the mirror house by Naru," Mai said. "Speaking of which, where _is_ that man, I'm going to"- Bou-san pulled Mai into a crushing hug.

"I thought you were hurt, Mai!"

"Let go of her, idiot, or she will be even more!" Ayako said.

"Stay out of this, Ayako - Ow! Don't hit me!" Bou-san stumbled back, his hand rubbing the spot where Ayako whacked him.

"I wouldn't _have_ to hit you if you just _listened_ to me." The two began to bicker, but Mai stepped in between them.

"Where is Naru?" She demanded. Bou-san and Ayako both stopped, blinked, then pointed to the left. Mai marched in that direction, absolutely determined to list off every single reason why _Naru_ was a brainless git - how he was arrogant - narcissistic -

"Wait, did I hear that _Naru_ was the one who sent to to the house?" Bou-san prompted.

"Yes."

"But that's not possible."

Mai stopped.

"Why?"

"Because his phone was broken. A little kid, ah, got a hold of it and-" Bou-san began to awkwardly cough. Ayako rolled her eyes and whacked the back of the monk's head.

"Bou-san dropped the phone and it shattered. Now he has to buy a new one."

"Then how did Naru text me?"

"Maybe _he_ wasn't the one who texted you," Bou-san said.

"But it was with his pho-"

"Ghosts have a habit with messing with electronics," Bou-san said. "Hey! Maybe the ghost made me drop Naru's phone!"

"Don't blame anyone but your clumsy fingers." Ayako whacked the back of Bou-san's head again. Mai shook her head. Yet somehow, it was harder to be scared with the two around. It was almost like having parents again.

A phone ring cut through the bickering. Ayako shot one last glare at Bou-san and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Have you found her yet?"

"Yes, we did, Naru," Ayako said. "Are you at the tent?"

"Yes."

"Good, this humidity is ruining my hair."

"It's not the humidity that's doing that." Ayako's jaw dropped; she growled and began to yell into the phone, only to find that Naru had hung up on her; and meanwhile, Bou-san and Mai held back their laughter with difficulty. Steam practically blew out of Ayako's ears as she marched towards Naru's location, Mai and Bou-san following.

When they arrived, Naru looked up from his papers with a frown.

"Where were you, Mai?" He demanded, ignoring Ayako's furious rant.

 _He doesn't even ask if I'm alright!_ Mai fumed. Nevertheless, she said, "In the mirror house, where you apparently sent me."

"I did no such thing."

"That's what I just found out." Suddenly, an idea popped into Mai's mind. She took out her phone and scrolled back to her message inbox; strangely, the texts from before were gone. It was if they never existed. Mai frowned.

"They're gone . . ."

"Wait a moment." Bou-san suddenly gave a start. "Did you just call her _'Mai',_ Naru?" He grinned. "My, my, didn't know the date was so successful, with you two on first name basis . . ."

 _That Bou-san! Why're you teasing me! I just got out of a life-or-death situation, jeez! What did I ever do to_ you?

"Don't you have to work to do?" Mai laughed awkwardly and loudly as she pushed Bou-san out of the tent. "Haha, work is so much fun! You should go do it!"

"H-Hey! Wait! Mai!" Bou-san dug his heels into the ground. "Knock it off!"

"I dunno. If you throw him out, Mai, we might actually get something done," Ayako said slyly.

"Says the woman who was _lounging_ around all day," Bou-san shot back. Mai blanched.

 _Don't call me out, Ayako, don't you dare-_

"Rest is _important_ for beauty," Ayako corrected. "And besides, Mai was with me, too-"

"Ayako!" Mai whined.

"If you're all _done_ acting like children." Naru slammed his book shut. The other three quickly stopped. Laughing nervously, they sarted making small, apologetic noises as they filed in a line. Naru sent another glare before continuing.

"Show me the text messages," he said.

"Alright, but they're gone now, and I'm sure I didn't delete them." Nara ignored her as he opened up the phone. With a frown, he scrolled through the conversation, but like Mai, he found nothing. Frowning, he pocketed the device.

"Naru, that's my phone!"

"Yes, and now it's evidence, so we'll be keeping it."

"What're you, a police officer?"

"Focus. We have more important things to work on."

"But that's my phone!"

"We've found some more information on the history of this location." Naru stepped past a fuming Mai; coming to lean against the desk, he pulled out the files and laid it on the desk for the rest of them to see. "This place has long been a spot for carnivals and fairs, the most notable being 'Felix Montague's Carnival.' Compared to the rest of the fairs, Montague's business was much more popular - and profitable. They easily attracted crowds of people, which would eventually become a breeding ground for the 1889-1890 influenza epidemic.

The disease wiped out virtually all the employees. With no customers and no workers, Felix Montague was forced to shut down. There hasn't been another attraction in this place until recently."

"Will," Mai murmured.

"Correct, Mai. I think it's safe to assume that our ghosts were probably victims from the outbreak."

"So were they customers or workers at Montague's?" Bou-san cut in. "If they were workers, it's going to be harder to get them to pass on."

"That's _if_ they want to pass on," Ayako huffed. "They seem pretty content to stay and scare people. Take Mai - she probably was scared out of her wits!"

"I was not!" Mai lied. "I was fine on my own, thank you very much."

"Says the girl with a bloody nose."

"That's not my fault," Mai crossed her arms. "It was that giggling ghost's fault."

"Giggling?" Naru said.

"Yeah, I kept hearing giggling. Lots of it." Mai frowned at the look on Naru's face, "You're thinking about something."

 _"How cute, they've only been together a short time and they already know each other so well,"_ Mai heard Bou-san whisper in the back.

 _"You're just jealous that you can't say the same for you and Naru,_ " Ayako whispered back. Bou-san sputtered. Mai grinned victoriously. _Payback, Bou-san,_ she thought.

"Thinking is a past-time that few people seem to prefer. I happen to be one of those people." Naru pushed himself off the table. "We have at least two ghosts in the park, each with some fixation on Mai."

"Cuz of my 'extreme emotions,'" Mai quoted with a grumble.

"We haven't found anything on the cameras, but I doubt we'll find anything else. It's most likely only two ghosts."

"And what makes you say that?" Ayako put her hands on her hips.

"Theories."

"Mind telling us those theories, _Naru?"_

"Actually, I would, Miss Matsuzaki," he replied. "For now, those ghosts aren't going to come out. They've already had their fun with Mai."

"I didn't have fun with _them,"_ Mai muttered under her breath. Naru continued as if he didn't hear her.

"Lin, how many sleeping bags do we have?"

"Four."

"One of us is gonna have to go without one," Bou-san said. He placed a hand on Ayako's shoulders. "Thanks for taking one for the team, Ayako."

"I'm not sleeping without a sleeping bag, you pig! Why don't _you_ sleep on the ground? That's where you belong, anyway."

"I don't need a sleeping bag," Mai said. She was already eager for bed; she didn't need to be kept up by any bickering. Not if she could help it, anyway.

"See? Mai knows I need quality beauty sleep."

"You certainly do," Bou-san said. Ayako smacked the monk in the face with a pillow. In retaliation, Bou-san threw it back at the priestess, knocking her over; Ayako growled and threw it again, but it missed; instead, the pillow hit Mai in the face, causing _her_ to fall over. On the way down, she flung the cushion at Bou-san's face; he sputtered, but when _Ayako's_ other cushion smacked his cheek, his eyes took on a devilish glint.

"So it's a _pillow_ fight you want, eh?" He rolled his sleeves back and lifted the cushion in the air. "Well, I can-"

There was a sudden _whoosh_ as three pillows hit Ayako, Mai, and Bou-san with deadly accuracy. They all hit the ground with a groan and snapped around to see who threw it; however, Naru and Lin were absorbed with the monitors.

"Who threw that at us?" Ayako demanded.

"Maybe it was a ghost, Miss Matsuzaki," Naru said, still staring at the monitor. "Lin and I will take first watch. Takigawa and Miss Matsuzaki can take over after that."

"First watch?" Mai repeated.

"You know how we brought in those cameras earlier? And had to set them up?" Bou-san said. "Well, they're here to catch any ghost activity, but someone's gotta be on monitor duty to alert everyone else if something happens."

"Can I help?"

"You focus on getting to sleep. Judging by the blood on your sleeves, it's probably been a long day," he ruffled Mai's hair. Mai swatted his hand away and yawned; she _was_ a bit tired, now that she thought about it. Bou-san smirked.

"Take the sleeping bag, kiddo."

"I'm not a _kiddo,"_ Mai frowned, but crawled into the bag anyway. She exhaled and felt all the tension in her body go away.

"Goodnight, Mai."

"Goodnight, Bou-san."

* * *

A/N: So this chapter is just . . . casually almost a year late. Again. Yikes. Sorry everyone, that's my fault. Fortunately, the next chapter is going pretty good (it's also the longest chapter yet, so hurrah for that). It should be up in far less time than this chapter was. In the meantime, please continue to read and review, because us authors are always desperate for validation. Hope everyone is enjoying their new year, because 2017 was a shit show and I think we're all ready to move past it, yeah?

Yeah.

See you all next chapter.


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